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stepping in the same river twice

Summary:

A collection of non-canon/AU content (story/notes/art) for the series, including Yuu interactions and game canon-divergence timelines. Requests welcome, though not guaranteed.

(Note: As 7habits has not yet completed and we are therefore a ways from NRC, all 'NRC Art References' will stay here despite being applicable to story canon.)

1/12/25: updated c6 with more art for nrc!mor and a oct4 smile comparison <3

Chapter 1: homepage

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

List of Work in Progress AUs

Here is a list of AUs that have some content already noted/drafted for them, even if they're not necessarily ready to publish yet.

1. metagame / yuu-niverse v1 / Game Canon-Until-Divergence ("Yuu")
2. no memory / what-if triplet / 'som' 
3. fisherman / separated at spawn/ besties(?) with rollo 
4. sea witch / separated at spawn / worsties with octatrio
5. a/b/o-megaverse
6. surprise, it's all yanderes! (silly)
7. 6 years older / besties with ace's brother / savanaclaw dorm head 
8. ancient history / pre-nrc(-founding) / mor and friends' excellent adventure 
9. 'aquarium' 
10. surprise, it's all yanderes! (serious)
11. soulmarks
12. otome game 
13. human-verse mafia 
14. surprise, it's all yanderes! (grab bag ) 
15. species swap / (merfolk -> faerie, faerie -> human, human -> beastfolk, beastfolk -> merfolk)
16. yuu-niverse v2.? / Manga Yuus (feat. ??) 
17. infinite flow death game
15. ...? (or request queue for more) 

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Requests

Please feel free to submit requests in comments for what you would like to see as a published update! Any chapter's comments will do, I'll see them all; although if you want to make sure others see your request (and can second it in a comment reply), maybe this homepage could do? 

You do not have to fill out a template, but for the people who feel more assured having an 'official' form:

Request for AU: new or continued

Inspiration/Prompt: (i.e., what would you like to see happen or explored? this should have some relevance to the series, but does not have to include Mor!)

Preferred nickname: (i.e., what can I credit you as in your request notes?)

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Canon and OC Interactions

By the way, I'm definitely happy to see and chat with people discussing ships for Mor! Some people commented about metagame!Mor after the vice-dorm-head post was updated in 'the devil's in the details', and this is the perfect AU place to bring it up! Since it will take a while in the series canon to have anything there to talk about, haha...

I just wanted to clarify because I don't want anyone to get the idea that I discourage that kind of talk! In fact I really appreciate it since it shows how much people like to think about Mor's character! It's just difficult to encourage in 7Habits since there's so much time for reader-influenced character development to be altered and finalized before we reach NRC, and it's always a little embarrassing to ask people to think about shipping your OCs... but both romantic and platonic ships are always welcome!

I love hearing your thoughts and how you shake (all the many timelines of) Mor around in your brain, and I know it's equally as embarrassing to tell people your shipping thoughts about their OCs after all... 

And in the same vein, please always feel welcome to comment to chat about your OCs/Yuus and possible interactions with Mor! That can be our bespoke special little guys AU! I'm too shy to venture off of AO3 but I'm here!! :>> My reply speed is as dubious as my chapter writing speed but I assure you I am Reading and Perceiving!! <33

Notes:

Decided to finally post this collection today because I wanted to give you something to chew on while I'm working on 7Habits Chapter 15, and there was Metagame!AU content ready to go...

And now I can promise myself an AU update as a reward/motivator every time I publish another canon chapter lol (;v;)b

Chapter 2: [metagame | game!yuu] pt. 1

Summary:

Reposting the parts already impatiently posted in 'the devil's in the details' (canon sidestory collection), because I want to have it all in one place in this AU sidestory collection. (Vice dorm head impressions + Birthday Boy vignette + Union Birthday answers summary.)

 

ALSO adding new content: Union Birthday + Broomquet Birthday + Platinum Jacket Birthday voicelines!! Don't you just love the ambiguous timelines of game cards?

 

ALSO adding: curated comment replies in 7habits that give more explanation to what this AU is about!

 

I'm not deleting the chapters in the canon sidestory that used to have these parts because I don't want to lose the comments, but I will delete the content related to this AU off those chapters to redirect them here.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Metagame AU:  the one where morgan leech is a character card within the game world of Twisted Wonderland, existing as the fourth summonable Octavinelle dorm member.

aka: the one with game!yuu.



  Note: originally posted in canon sidestory chapter 14, check there if you like viewing reader comments! 

Original summary:

since we're still solidly in book 1 of ddb, the mor and the vice dorm heads opinions can be considered part of the metagame!au (i.e., what if mor was always part of the octavinelle gang and is supposedly not self aware as being within a mobile game), and/or part of hypothetical nrc musings. however you want to enjoy it!

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mor and the vice dorm heads: (aka, what does mor think of the vice dorm heads? )

(i was going to sketch doodles for all of these but i decided i wanted to post a chapter now with the merforms, so, you just get text content to beef up the chapter, sorry. that's why the sentences read like they're planning sketches.)

 

rook

mor -> rook "friends! (rare good(?) person)" 
rook -> mor "fellow appreciator of beauty! (source of merfolk info)"

smiling together with sparkles

rook: says something deeply unnerving / suspicious / stalkerish
mor: ignores it or is weirdly touched ('v')b thoroughly desensitized from undersea

 

lilia

mor -> lilia "respect the aesthetic (avoid the fae)" 
lilia -> mor "a good child (silver's classmate)"

somehow, they keep missing each other's paths? (mor sweating and lowering their shades, pressed around a hallway corner)

 

trey

mor -> trey "responsible (indifferent)"
trey -> mor "not troublesome (indifferent)"

mor, thinking and curious: jade was laughing really mirthfully the other day about trey's advice... (ceremonial robes sr)
trey, thinking and sighing: what else was i mistaken about? is the third leech actually a social softy? ha ha... 

mor and trey: both deeply want to be average and stay in their lanes. both firmly refusing to acknowledge they are* made un-ordinary by how much they are surrounded by and care for extraordinary people

* (kind of freaks in their own ways and also)

 

jamil

mor -> jamil "lowkey and hard to read (solidarity)" 
jamil -> mor "lowkey and hard to read (hostility)"

mor staring absent-mindedly at jamil: azul talks a lot about you... hm...
jamil, mentally anguished: i am not standing out i am not standing out-- 

 

ruggie (unofficial)

mor -> ruggie "diligent helper (cute, want to feed)"
ruggie -> mor "easy mark (tolerant disdain, wants to be fed)" 

mor, thinking about ruggie who is clear-cut about transactions and sharp with benefits: would do well undersea... 
ruggie, thinking about mor's softer side in the lounge: is there some big secret i'm seeing here...? eh, i'm not paid to think about suckers~

 

ortho (unofficial) 

mor -> ortho "magic robot of mass destruction (preferable over a child)" 
ortho -> mor "helpful study subject of siblinghood" 

mor (believes azul and idia could be friends) :handshake: ortho (believes idia and azul could be friends)

 

jade

mor -> jade "reliable (??)" jade -> mor "dependable (??)"

mysterious smiles to outsiders. immediate impression of harmonious siblings / a united front.

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Note: originally posted in canon sidestory chapter 17, check there if you like viewing reader comments! 

Original summary:

since people have asked, have a birthday boy interview! (union interview still pending.) i consider the birthday celebrations to be something that is either non-canon to the main storyline or only happens formally after canon/overblots start; i saw a headcanon that it was as a moral boosting measure which i think is a great interpretation. thus, we're not going to cover the birthday interviews etc. in book 2 with first-year mor. so this was really fun to write! :>

(context is yuu and mor are generally good friends, so while mor is still more measured in his responses because it's an interview, he's also more relaxed still)

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SSR Birthday Boy Interview

(yuu and mor have a nice chat)

 

Vignette level 1/3 unlocked!

Proceed to part 1? >>

Yuu: "Happy birthday!"

Mor: "—ah, did we start recording, then? Alright… Thank you, Yuu." 
(Translation: We were just casually shooting the shit off-screen, now let's switch over to being Professional and Diplomatic and Impersonal.)

 

Y: "How are you feeling with everyone celebrating you?"

M: "…Tired. When you're celebrating a birthday that has to be three times the everything… Well. I suppose this is already more restrained than it could be." 
(T: Jade and Floyd are birthday terrors and I haven't slept in 20 hours. At least I don't have to network or check security, though)

 

Y: "Is this the kind of celebration you prefer, then?"

M: "Prefer…? I haven't thought about it too much… They just happen. Though, our parents had started to ask us that more and more before we left for NRC. Since we've grown older and more into our own people, having a larger say in the sort of parties we entertain should be natural… or something like that. …My conclusion is… it's not bad, having this sort of low-key gathering when possible." 
(T: I like anything I don't have to plan. But also I definitely want to know what's going on at all times, so a small affair is best.)

 

Y: "Low-key in what way? Would you mind specifying?"

M: "…You sure are even more persistent than usual when on duty. Just what did the Headmaster ask you…?

Hm. 'Low-key'… I suppose I just mean everyone you want to have there is there. And everyone else is satisfied with simply hearing a 'thank you' to their 'happy birthday.'

Of course, the food must be good." 
(T: Damn, I have to actually elaborate on my internal thoughts and feelings?? Twisted and evil. Only for you, Yuu. Yeah, I want to hang with the handful of people I actually like and trust, and everyone else is... whatever, fine. As long as they don't want to actually talk to me. And I better not have to suffer through any socializing on an empty stomach.)

 

Y: "The food?"

M, words scrolling out much faster, like it's an immediate response that comes to mind: "It wouldn't be very low-key if anyone was offended by the food and decided to pick a fight, have a long and reasonable conversation with the kitchen staff, or find something more interesting to sink their teeth in, after all."
(T: Food is easy redirection when Floyd is bored, Azul is bored, or Jade is bored. I mean, they'd indulge me by pretending to go along with an easy redirection on our birthday, at least— same as I'd indulge them in being little shits if the food was bad and I was bored, too.)

 

Y: "I see that. People and food… You aren't concerned about presents at all?"

M: "Not especially… though, if that's your way of saying you have one for me, I certainly wouldn't turn it down. It's rude to not accept a gift.

…More generally, I don't think I'm hard to please. As long as it's sincere."
(T: I'm rich. Yuu, i don't think there is a way I can politely tell you this as a friend, but I am really rich. Not like Kalim-rich, but nobody is. I mean I still like getting stuff from people who got it for me because they like me for me, but that's rare for the presents I get. You like me, right?)

 

Y: "…" 

M: "…Should I guess what expression you have right now?" 
(T: Are you thinking it's unlikely I'll get a sincere gift from any students around here, or are you disagreeing I'm easy to please, or are you just unamused-amused by my friendly teasing about your gift? This is half-teasing and half-apprehensive of a question too, by the way.)

Vignette level 2/3 unlocked!

Proceed to part 2? >>

Yuu: "Do you have a favorite birthday memory?"

Mor: "Ah… A favorite birthday memory? …I don't pick favorites.

But… there was one time when we were young, our parents brought us out on a little day trip, to celebrate a business deal. It was also close to our birthday, then.

When we stopped by this bakery— which are rather rare undersea, so it was a special treat.

Our father said we could pick out anything we want… Everything looked so good, though, that I couldn't decide.

…I kept thinking, what to try first? Quality, quantity, how long it would keep… Price was no object, but… Well.

Meanwhile, Jade and Floyd thought— it had been long enough. They just turned to our parents and asked, 'Anything?' 

'Anything,' our parents agreed.

So then they said we should just get one of everything, try it all at home, and then come back for more if we liked anything.

…We were a little spoiled, perhaps." 
(Translation: We were more than a little spoiled.)

 

Y: "How about a least favorite gift you've received?"

M, words scrolling out slowly, like it's either teasing or simply thoughtful: "Hmm…

A least favorite gift?

…That's a secret."
(T: I don't want to lie to you.)

 

Y: "Do you have any hobbies or interests?"

M: "Well, sometimes I accompany an underclassman on newspaper outings, to help with… uncooperative subjects.

I've tried a couple of different things before, but generally, I'll only really get into something if I think I'll stick with it.

People have gifted me a lot of stationary supplies before— I don't actually enjoy journaling or writing letters much, though.

I enjoy… sightseeing. It's fun picking out souvenirs and mementos, though I don't keep most of them.

Ah… I do like to collect good luck charms, especially if they have a good story attached. I also have a selection of novelty lamps and sleep masks that I've accumulated over the years.

Recently, I've started getting into collecting rocks… I was reminded of how unique they look under water, so I've been keeping them in jars."
(T: Okay, okay, I'll give an actual answer, my newspaper underclassman.
If Floyd's trying something new, I will too; I'll try most things once. I'm probably closer to Jade in how we handle our interests, though.
Journals and letters aren't secure. I'd rather talk to someone face to face, anyway.
Unfortunately, I don't like the actual traveling. No journey for me, thanks; just give me a destination. Maybe I've been spoiled by teleporters?
Much to Azul's exasperation. Well, it's not like I believe in it either, but it's interesting hearing what others think, don't you think?)

 

Y: "What do you do with the souvenirs you don't keep?"

M: "Save them for gifts. It's always useful to have something on hand, in case of unexpected… occurrences. Or for expected ones."
(T: Something something… Listen, I know that the main culprit of spoiling around here is probably me, alright!? Let me save my dignity with a shady excuse, okay.)

Vignette level 3/3 unlocked!

Proceed to part 3? >>

Yuu: "You have a rather unique sense of style."

Mor: "…You have a rather unique way of complimenting people." 
(Translation: Wry deadpan.)

 

Y: "Where do you get your clothes from?"

M: "Oh? Ah… it's almost all tailored or custom-order. The typical land sizing seems rather limited…

We didn't really need a wardrobe until we came onto land, but…

'Of course, no expense spared,' our parents said. Or something like that. And I found a bunch of catalogs when researching— Mm.

The pre-academy institute only provides the school uniform, and you're supposed to prepare the rest yourself… Most of our cohort needed adjustments before our carriages came, though. Merfolk sizes can translate quite differently to human height."
(T: Why is everyone so fucking short. It almost makes me scared I'll accidentally squish someone sometimes!!
It's nice that fast-fashion doesn't really seem to be a thing, though; one perk of fairy tale land is that seamstresses and tailors are still thriving, even with fashion brands and the internet, huh?)

 

Y: "Was there anything that really surprised you when you came onto land?"

M: "Surprised… me? Well…

It all seems rather like a fantasy, from one point of view.

Nothing in particular stands out… We prepared thoroughly beforehand, of course."
(T: I could not begin to explain what I really think or feel about this question. Let's pretend I'm just too cool for school.)

 

Y: "Is there anything you miss about the Coral Sea, then?"

M: "…The food is definitely not something you can get anywhere else, really. And…

It can be very peaceful, sometimes, just floating and feeling the currents go by. There's more happening than you'd think, with the quiet."
(T: This sounds familiar…
Like sunbathing except with no sun! And instead of radio, it's the fish gossip lines and distant song…)

 

Y: "Thank you for sharing all of this with us.
Once again, happy birthday!"

☆☆☆

bonus excerpt/scene from metagame!au mor and yuu friendship, and prelude to (canon sidestory) chapter 15's "SEA DREAMS" SSR Card:

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At Yuu's abrupt question, Mor made a strange face, which was to say, any sort of expression other than their usual neutral indifference.

“…how would I say it…” he muttered, putting a curled hand up to his chin in thought. “…Undersea’s not anywhere I’d recommend you ever go to live… but if you’d like to go visit sometime, I’m sure you’d find it… beautiful."

Their eyebrows lift slightly over the soft sweep of dark lashes. "Why. Interested?” 

“You’re nicer than you seem, aren’t you?” Yuu grins up at him boldly, glad the leap of faith had paid off to break the silence.

Mor blinks and draws their brows together briefly, before loosing them again. There’s something wry in his tone as his lips twitch up. “…Hmm… not really. There’s just no good people around NRC, you know. …Other than maybe Scarabia’s dorm head, I guess. You… don’t belong here."

There's a moment of silence again, which seems far less unsettling now that Yuu has a better idea of what it means. Waiting patiently is rewarded by the merfolk's conclusion of, "…It’s annoying, watching bad things happen to good people. Leave those good at it to take it out on each other."

Almost none of that sinks in, except, of course, the most important bit. Like… Hey, that was concern, wasn't it?  

Yuu tries not to let the triumph show too visibly, as it's decided, So he really is just a super awkward good guy after all!

If Mor could hear that then, they'd be deadpanning. Aren't your standards just too low, prefect!?

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bonus 'union birthday interview' answers thought process:

the sibling question:

  • Mor, sweatdropping internally as tweels show up Smiling on the peripherals. This is as dangerous a question as which brother I like best, you know??
  • But seriously, I've never considered it... I mean, joining this family? In this economy??
  • It wouldn't be too bad to have an easy to handle personality around for once, though... You know... someone who's a 'good person'? I could relax a little, finally...
  1. Kalim is ruled out, even though he has a cute sunny sweet personality. Bonus points for the Oct4 all liking him, and he has a lot of siblings already, so he must be good at having them. Unfortunately, Mor doesn't think he’ll like living underwater, or the cold, or merfolk society. Or the Leeches. Mor is undecided if this question means 'in a hypothetical world where they were biologically your sibling from birth', and doesn't want to ask for clarification.

  2. Silver has a cute serious and straightforward personality. Bonus points for being able to take care of himself, but seeming like he wouldn't mind fussing anyway...? Maybe. Hard to tell. He has a very peaceful energy and a way with animals, though... Infinite little animals supply. Only con: it might be hard to wake him up from naps, with how peaceful he looks. If he can handle Malleus Draconia, he can handle the Leeches...?

  3. Jack has a cute aloof yet warm personality, Fluff, a strong sense of justice and self-improvement, and he's not cowed but he's respectful of strength and catches on quick... so he'd do fine in merfolk society. Bonus points for already having siblings, so he'd know how to interact with them and roughhouse (and 6 hours stamina is very good). Only con: there's a sense of inflexible justice, and maybe he's too serious to take to Jade and Floyd's teasing well...? 

  4. Deuce has a cute model student / reforming delinquent personality, respects strength so he can be kept in line and helped with studies, and seems the earnest puppy type? A little foolish in the contracts area... but that can be taught. Mor could tolerate the sound of blastcycles, if it meant having another speed appreciator to fly with... Only con: it would be a bit awkward to have a magical enforcement officer in the family...

the dorm question:

  • Thinks the same thing as Jade, it would be too environmentally uncomfortable to pick Savanaclaw or Scarabia. Otherwise may lean towards Scarabia for being academically high-achieving and under Kalim's soft lead, or Savanaclaw for being a place that works similarly and thus familiarly to undersea. Scarabia doesn't seem welcoming to outsiders, and there's a lot more social maneuvering than Mor would like; while Savanaclaw seems antagonistic to Octavinelle, and there's it's fair share of dominance displays... But all of those are things they can find themself handling, nonetheless. It'll be good business practice, at least.

  • Thinks the same as Floyd, it would be too impossible to pick Heartslabyul with all its nonsense rules... Mor couldn't find themself being motivated at all to memorize 'unreasonable' orders, much less follow them, especially if the punishment is stressful enough to want to avoid but not serious enough to want to do something about. And there's just... too many people... Also similarly to Floyd, Pomefiore has too high expectations to face. But otherwise it would be nice to see Rook more, and the younger Schoenheit at work. Though, at the same time, Mor has a sense that seeing Rook too much may be bad for their friendship...!?

  • Diasomnia would be ideal, with its gloomy gothic aesthetic and its reputation for magical expertise, not to mention all the fae being good sources of knowledge as long as he's careful with deals... But it has Malleus Draconia. And the magical feedback is just... Maybe he'd get used to it, but Mor would prefer avoiding feeling that static-shock and unsettling pressure in the place they're supposed to relax in. Though, it is curious that his keychain pet only seems to pick up another signal around that dorm...?

  • Alright, it's Ignihyde. A bit sad to not get the dorm experience much, but to be honest, having their own space to breathe and just nerd out in sounds pretty good, too. And with the top-notch security around here, he can't be barged in on to be pestered over his sleep schedule...! The darkness and the blue lights even kind of remind them of sea bioluminescence... Though, being jumpscared by Ortho at 4 am in the kitchens...!? No, no, he'll just invest in a gamer minifridge!!  
    (It might be a bit lonely, though...) 

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AU Highlights from Reader Comments:

Chari: absolutely obsessed with mor's relationship with jamil <3 and ruggie being a scrunkly little fellow. (...)

ALSO im wondering if you have any intentions for including yuu/prefect in the metagame au ,or in the story in general. I can see morgan having an existential crisis if they discovered yuu was also from another world but got to retain their body (even worse if it was their previous world!).

  • every time mor even considers getting closer to jamil for the sake of azul's simping they r unwittingly ruining his life, personally <3 ruggie has his priorities in order !! getting involved w whatever the fuck's going on in octavinelle is not worth this time until someone can give him a better offer than azul (and that's a hard thing to come by, indeed)
  • oh yeah absolutely !! bc ddb deliberately ends at pre-canon (at least for now), metagame au is pretty much born from my desire to think about / envision mor as being a character who always existed in the twst game and its story, and thus, interacting with the player, ie game!yuu. there are subtly different versions and layers of metagame!au, i guess, because morgan as a character has definitely changed much from original planning.

  • for example, metagame!au encompasses: (and unless specified, is from an outsider pov ambiguously accurate to all of these) 

1. morgan leech is a character in the game. morgan leech is aware of this, and makes meta references often, speaking to the eldritch player avatar called Yuu, who does not really exist, and is only a puppet for the higher powers playing the game. maybe despite himself, he develops a fondness for this symbol of his own futile reality. morgan is resigned to their predestined fate and passively exists while mostly trying to ignore his own self-awareness, but has sincere relationships with the other characters who are as dubiously real as they are. whether morgan leech remembers a past life outside the game is ambiguous and never confirmed. morgan and/or "yuu"(?) pov.

2. morgan leech is a character in the game. morgan leech is a strange character, though only one of many a cast of strange characters, so it doesn't matter much. however, he has his own fans, merch, etc., and we visit a forum where fans are theorycrafting about them. one of the most popular theories is that mor is actually somewhat self-aware of the fourth wall; largely regarded a crack theory, it's still a popular one, drawn from how he has many in-game voicelines that make ambiguously meta references, though he never shows this tendency in the story (likely just coincidences meant for emotional bonding), and how his playable character seems to treat 'Yuu' much friendlier than in the story (a tendency shared by much of the cast for marketing reasons). of course morgan has relationships with other characters; it's all character lore, isn't it? a much more niche crack theory is that morgan is not who they say they are, somehow. player pov.

3. morgan leech is a character in the game(?). this may or may not be the game that 2. is spectating. he is entirely oblivious to this, and makes meta references often, speaking mostly to his own thoughts because he likes the false comfort of knowing what's going on in his disastrous life at any given moment. yuu is the new magicless student from another world, and may be either game!yuu, manga!yuu(s), or lightnovel!yuu (who all have distinctly interesting personalities to play with). they are their own person, and also oblivious to any unusualness about their reality. importantly, they are "a good person", and so morgan takes an instant protective shine to them. however, they usually try not to interfere with others' business, and they're intensely awkward about befriending yuu, which makes things difficult. twst!game!canon may or may not go off the rails in various ways, or maybe everything stays mostly the same until the octavinelle book 3, where things really start changing. the dissonance of 2.'s mor's friendly voicelines and detached story appearance is explained more here, as we see how much and why mor really wants to get close to yuu, but doesn't want to make that obvious. we see such iconic moments such as yuu calling mor their newspaper senpai and also 'nicer than you seem', and mor acting as everything from a distant upperclassment to a caring friend to an exasperated older brother to a totally unimpressive dork. as a person, of course he has relationships with other characters. whether morgan leech remembers a past life outside the game is ambiguous and never confirmed. yuu and/or morgan pov.

4. same as 3, except it's written specifically as ddb canon/canon-complicit continuation into the threels' second year, and thus, yuu entering nrc. so, morgan's specific characterization after ddb book 2 is carried over, and yuu's world is confirmed to be a world very similar to and possibly the same as morgan's (i.e., disney does not exist), and morgan speedruns their existential crisis to the conclusion that they are Isekai Trauma Buddies and Must Protect The Yuu. this sends twst!game!canon wildly off the rails.

noneofyourdambusiness: Wonder what everyone’s reaction would be to him suddenly being very attached to the weird magicless guy

  • i can speculate, though specifics may differ depending on how mor's post-book-2 personality actually ends up being (after reader votes and experiences, etc.)

    briefly, reactions:
    - azul: exasperatedly fond (and only a little jealous) of mor's attachment to 'weakness' or 'hopeless cases'. mentally recalculates costs and benefits of what approach to take with yuu as a piece in his schemes, and how to convince mor to allow it. probably takes a 'befriending' approach early on to win mor's approval and make it easier to manipulate yuu... (and then succumbs to the protagonist befriending powers!)
    - tweels: Ah, Mor's Picked Up Another Stray... time to investigate~! emotionally physically and psychologically terrorizes yuu for a little bit in ways that mor won't notice or explicitly disapprove of, and is nicer to yuu once they are confirmed not to be any kind of threat. will tease mor a lot about having a soft spot, makes it pretty clear to yuu however that they better not upset mor, and then kind of treats yuu as an extension of mor or mor's toy they're not allowed to break (until they succumb to the protagonist befriending powers too)
    - rest of octavinelle: yuu gets some preferential treatment but also avoided/schemed/used/resented due to connection to mor/leeches. mor's 'benevolence' towards weakness is known to be... different than the usual
    - rest of student body: so many theories about mor wanting an easier little brother or just sees yuu as like a weak pet/plant or actually is plotting to kill yuu or is just studying yuu for their magic research thesis or etc., but for the most part doesn't want to actually get involved and risk anything. will trend towards neutral/avoiding (rather than what light novel yuu explicitly got bullied for)

InfiniteChoicesMind: Didn't expect Mor to get along with Rook, but (...) I guess it makes sense. And for some reason I expected him to become the Vice instead of Jade due to his relationship with Azul? Though in hindsight, I guess Mor would be too busy w/ school stuff and Leech stuff to do that.

  • to his credit, rook is one of the few nrc students who would qualify as a good person, i think? like, he definitely does sketchy things and supports his own self interests without really caring if that makes others uncomfortable (in fact, that discomfort can be an interesting reaction by itself), but he doesn't deliberately seek benefits at someone else's cost and he's probably one of the few characters u could just ask for help and he'd probably help u without asking for anything, just because he wants to help you out (and/or bc self-improvement is beautiful, etc.). and yeah, mor's very good at adjusting his tolerances depending on how positively biased he is towards you.

    yeah, mor's just not interested in vice duties and jade would find it interesting enough to not push it off onto someone else; and azul would only choose from the eels as his trusted vice, probably.

CrystalRoseWrites: have you considered how Mor would behave in a Master Chef event? And the best and worst partner for them? If I'm being honest, I think based on how you described them, Rook and Morgan having an event together would be great!

  • best partner would probably just be anyone mor personally likes, and worst would be anyone mor personally doesn't; mor would be able to work just fine with anyone, but he'd mentally suffocate in his own overthinking in the latter case. i think mor would have decent cooking skills by the time he's in nrc due to spending so much time in home kitchens and being interested in merfolk food; and i dont think azul would *let* anyone who's close to him for so long to not be basically competent, lol, especially if he's roping them into the mostro lounge scheme. if he's joining master chef, it's just as a mandatory elective he wants to do well enough to pass in; very low-stakes, for fun. rook would definitely fit as being a fun partner to goof around but also genuinely have friendly competition with, in assignments.

COCO: It's fits so well even in a canon context and as a non-Mor POV it's rather enlightening in how different he seems outside of his mind. More intimidating, stoic seeming, less energetic with an air of seemingly confidence. Quite a difference from his inner self.

I'm also very curious what kind of expression Yuu had to Mor's response about liking a present given sincerely. I thinking Mor is judging himself a little too harshly again when interpreting Yuu's expression. After all he didn't think of any of the even slightly more positive responses-- like feeling bad for Mor, surprise at the response, or even determination to show Mor Yuu's present is sincere.

That Mor doesn't want to talk about a least favorite gift. I wonder if it was from a family member or perhaps a "gift" too dark to be spoken of. Maybe even the reason the tweel's father has birthday guests sign contracts.

Mor accompanies Yuu to take pictures! He worries about Yuu and doesn't want bad things to happen to them! A rare normal relationship. It's also pretty sweet that Mor's willing to try new things with Floyd at least once, even if it's not something he plans to stick with. The things Mor must've done for Floyd (imagine if it's something super chaotic like standing on his head, eating bugs in cuisine, etc etc). 

Mor is friends with Rook? How surprising given the tweels reaction to him. What a curious combination. That aside, it's interesting how Epel wasn't considered as a potential brother, perhaps they only know each other on a surface level and Ortho not being considered makes sense given he's a robot and Mor's from under the sea.

  • yupp i have speech patterns already plotted out for nrc!mor (which includes metagame!mor), and everything you just described about that 'feeling' is very on point !! it's partly unintentional for comedy, but mostly intentional for a self-defense front. he still talks quite differently to those they're 'close to' and those they aren't; the 'close' way of speaking is much closer to his inner voice! their way of speaking in the bday ssr interview can be considered 'in between' the two modes, and leaning towards 'not close', just since mor's taking an interview that will be published to the school, but they're also just talking to their good friend yuu. so that's actually already softened!
  • yuu's reaction is up to reader interpretation for sure, fitting to yuu's role as a game mc lol. but i absolutely agree that mor is being too negative / self-deprecating in that thinking. (if only metagame!mor knew how many players on the meta forums think of him as their blorbo... and how much money his merch makes!!)
  • mor's least favorite gift: hahahaha. up to interpretation! mor did say he doesn't pick favorites... does that extend to this? are there just too many options to pick from? or, like you guess, is it something too private to be casually revealed? i will say the signing contracts didn't need a catalyst to start, though; the leeches are just like that lol
  • yesss mor is yuu's newspaper senpai in metagame!au! though the player doesn't officially find that out until after book 3, and mor never directly helps in the birthday interviews, so it's left to book 4/5 main story and to card vignettes (and to the metagame!forums). they aren't much of a regular member, especially since the club isn't much of a regular club, but they contribute graphics/photography sometimes and avoid interacting with other members as much as possible. so for him to take it upon himself to bodyguard yuu--!?
  • well, if mor really doesn't want to do something, he won't, but he's weak to floyd and genuinely interested in trying new things (and hates trying new things alone). so it works out. sometimes he's the one inviting the rest of oct4 to try new things!
  • basically, mor thinks of rook as a 'good person', and so is rather amiable to him-- and rook cheerfully disregards boundaries anyway, so they just got to chatting one day (i.e. rook came up to mor and mor was surprised into responding) about 'undersea beauty' and 'abovesea beauty' and cultural exchange basically, lol. and the tweels may not like it, but they can't really affect rook. their social interaction protocols merge pretty well (under good circumstances)! it's possible ddb!mor will not develop as good of a relationship, depending on reader votes.
  • oh, the thing with epel is... metagame!mor thinks his personality is too... ahem, 'uncute' LOL. well, not really *un*cute, but still not brother material. it's like... the neighbor's unruly dog?? if the strict impressive super cool neighbor (vil) can barely keep a handle on them (epel), then you have no confidence in being able to do the same, especially with the territorial (pampered) pets you already got who barely pretend to listen to you... epel as a sibling to the tweels would either go HORRIBLY (danger to epel) or HORRIBLY (danger to everyone else in the vicinity).
    and ortho isn't considered because he creeps mor out LOL (it's mor's personal projection)

Imadragon: if Morgan is a bit bigger than the twins how would the others Students react? (You know, for when they are chased by the tweels) would they be like:

The braincell group seeing the tweels: “Wow you very large and scary please don’t kills us 🙏”

The tweels: “You think we are big? Wait till you see Morgan lmaoooo”.

Morgan who came in mermaid form to make sure the twins didn’t kill anyone: “You better not have killed anyone you menaces to society.”

The braincell group seeing Morgan who is quite a bit bigger than the twins: “Oh god—oh fuck we’re dead “.

  • generally morgan cultivates an intimidating uninvolved air on purpose (since, as a rule with exceptions, nobody in nrc is 'safe' to trust or interact with so easily, and he'd rather avoid that whole headache if possible). by the time we get to book 2, specifics may change depending on his book 1 characterization choices, but that's the general gist. in a hypothetical au where the game's book 3 events still go through more or less according to canon, and they still end up in a museum chase scene...

  • most likely mor just silently ghosts up and looms behind the first years while the tweels distract them from the front, gets pointed out smugly by the tweels, scares the shit out of everyone by encircling them in his coils while scowling with mouth open teeth on full display... and then instantly goes into a comedic moment where they're sighing heavily and frowning and fussing over yuu being underwater as a magicless human (and also the rest of you first years, they expected this as part of azul's plan but they're still disappointed you went through with it--!) ://// 

    like of course azul's potions are flawless and cannot be second guessed so it's perfectly safe on that front but have you even THOUGHT of the potential safety risks from exposing a nonmagical creature from another world entirely into the magically saturated environment of the sea?? not to mention using the magic chamber mirrors to pass through to here-- sure, it's legally okay because of nrc's special status being transferred to its students, and it's atlantica city of all places in full view of the museum with legions of royal guards around, but still-!! 

    but have you even thought about checking to make sure you have phone service still once you go through the mirror? or legal ID? or any sort of safety insurance to make sure you're okay dumped into a foreign country with a one-way way out? you know the potions only last so long, right? and what if someone dangerous came along before the triplets did?? so reckless smh smh--

    and this is absolutely the most anyone except the tweels and maybe yuu has heard mor speak, like, ever. (in every universe yuu exists, mor instantly has a soft spot for them; a timeline where we somehow still get to the book 3 canon events just means mor has kept more or less quiet about it. EDIT: WAIT NO LOL i just realized this can totally be metagame au, with how the game already handles the continuity split of 'storyline events' and 'summoning a character way before you meet them in story' etc etc)

  • anyway, the chase scene with mor still results in them being totally unsuccessful in breaking into the museum lol

rateelism: [Beans Day event!] which team is mor on ????? 

(reply:) it'd be absolutely one-sided if all threels were on the same team lololololol *and* Azul would be lonely !!!! lolol so it's good Morgan's part of the monster team. (Floyd vc) Bet'cha only got put in the monster team because your name starts with the letter M [for monster, for Morgan]

(reply:) Morgan seems like a defensive type of character, so something akin to a shield? The camo jackets are already magicked with some low visibility thing(?) so there could be some extra protection out on the field. But as for an attacking weapon, I think something more melee-like would be super cool, like the idea you suggested !!! Something that works best short-range to reflect Mor's thing of "only attacking all out if provoked."

  • mor is on the monsters team w azul !! almost got considered for farmers team but teacher lists were rearranged to prevent that. ironically, being on opposite sides motivates floyd more

  • so true !! (childhood coral sea tag games flashback…) mor is basically as effective as muscle as jack + more obedient to azul, so win win <33 give azul TWO jock pawns to chessboard his way to preserving his gpa !!
    (morgan vc) that works out for you, too. farmer, floyd… what’s jade, then? j for—
    (jade vc) *audible smile* ?
    (morgan, who was about to say ‘jealous’) …just kidding, haha!

  • you just made me think of like something like an extendable shield from gauntlets or that can be held and/or strapped to forearms and be used to deflect beans! reminds me of a line i noted down abt ‘face of a hitman, heart of a bodyguard’ to describe mor for sure, thank u for the suggestion !!

  • my doodle notes: (dialogue is speaking to the player yuu / speaking as if on a homescreen tapping)

    “…for something like this… mmh, cutting a bit loose in the spirit of ‘competition’, that should be fine?” <- summoning

    “i won’t hold back today, even if it’s you. …what’s with that face? i’ll treat you to a refreshing drink at the lounge if you get caught quickly, okay?“

    “sports days are for having fun and trying your best. ah, don’t let the latter overwhelm the former, though. hydration and taking breaks are important for endurance exercises.”

    “there’s no coral sea tradition of a beans day festival. we have others. …heh. You aren’t good at hiding your curiosity, you know?”

    “a parable of ‘restitution’ and ‘retribution’… name more common themes.”

    “…You sure have been buzzing around all day. Nervous? …Well, i don’t blame you.”

    “Hoping for recon? Azul’s got this in the bag, unfortunately. Don’t worry too much about it— standing downhill of a rolling stone will catch moss, or whatever.”

    “floyd and jade as farmers this year… we’re opponents, right? it’s a bit exciting. we haven’t played for no reason but pride in a while. let’s go all out with no regrets— is what i’d say to anyone else. instead, please, remember this is school property.”

    beans day monster team competitive smile mc + mc saving the jade + cater selfie

    1. smiling competitive <-summon
    2. kabedon you (azul?), laughing, got hit protecting you (?) <-groovy

    noting that the magic camo jackets readjust to fit the wearer’s frame (clever enchantment work, probably mostly crewel’s touch; wistfully wishes it worked more durably on any clothes, could save so much on tailoring)

stringyworm: i wonder who the you morgan is talking to in the alt unlock [of Sea Dreams SSR]~~? hmmm maybe a meta game with yuu? or someone else?

  • yes, it's implied to be 'the prefect/Yuu'!! canon octatrio invite you to visit their hometown/undersea a couple times (mostly jokingly/as a business pitch/cheerfully menacingly, though you can definitely imagine that it's more serious as they get closer to Yuu) but in the AU (lol, unofficial canon character vibes is where i aspire to be!!) where morgan meets (and inevitably befriends) yuu, he genuinely means it from the first time he offers. (there's a kind of melancholy but sincerity to the 'i'm just glad you visited' line --> morgan was thinking about how glad he is that Yuu came through the mirror to their world, though he doesn't want to say this to discourage Yuu from seeking home, hence, the 'no, it's nothing' when Yuu presumably asks what he's so pensive about)

COCO: (Personally I wanna know his (and the tweels) reaction to non-familial females. More specifically Eliza.) [Ghost Marriage event!]

  • non-familial females is same as non-familial anyone, really. but specifically eliza? ...mor doesn't like ghosts. he'd probably try to stay out of the whole eliza situation, though he might notice chubby's crush on her and point it out to azul earlier, for azul to make use of. when he thinks about it more, he does feel pity for eliza, trapped in a story that never ended. but he thinks she should stop being troublesome and imposing her problems on others. (and also get better standards, go to rsa??) once she slaps their brothers, though, mor's ready to go on a quick trip home to grab all their halloween storage anti-ghost tools immediately--

    the tweels probably react like canon, though they're typically a bit nicer (fake) in front of mor. so someone else would have to point out jade's intentions w the bouquet, bc he wouldn't tell on himself.

many: [mor has a tamagotchi??]

  • yes! :> you get to vote on it later in 7habits. it's just not a Roaring Drago lol.

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SSR Union Birthday Voicelines

When Summoned:

When you’re celebrating for three, it’s oddly more energizing even when it’s more tiring, so… I do prefer sharing a birthday. 

Summon Line:

Mm? Oh, that’s right. It’s time for the interview. Then lead the way. It’s still quiet enough before the party. 

Groooovy!!:

…The dorm was so noisy today. And so bright. Well, it wasn’t annoying… But still. If needed, find me in Azul’s office. 

Home:

…such a fuss… 

Home Idle 1:

Receiving gifts always feels a bit strange… especially from classmates who aren’t too familiar. No, perhaps that’s less strange than receiving from ones who are familiar…? Either way, most of them are sent back home for storage. It’s embarrassing asking to expand the filled-up treasure vault… 

Home Idle 2:  

Honestly… it’s a little embarrassing receiving a gift from a prince, even if it’s just courtesy to a schoolmate. Still, a list of research references on ancient runes and incantations personally recommended by a genius… doesn’t feel perfunctory at all. I’m grateful. 

(Leona)

Home Idle 3:

Advice for a gift? …Floyd is both difficult and easy to please… Ah? What do I usually give? …Well, that’s not a good example. I don’t wait until birthdays to give gifts, so birthdays can be… improvised. Once, I just told Floyd I’d sincerely fight him whenever he wanted… Of course, winning was up to him.

Home Idle - Login:

A change of pace every now and then isn’t bad. Hmm… have you tried this cake? 

Home Idle - Groovy:

Last year’s birthday was much more low-key than this. Busy adapting to school on land… and everyone else was busy adapting to us on land. 

Home Tap 1:

It’s polite across many cultures to pretend to refuse a gift first. However, it’s rude to really refuse or retract a gift. Our parents taught us well— if you’re polite enough, you can afford to be a little rude, too. 

Home Tap 2:

So many people have ambushed me today… If it’s like trick-or-treat or hide-and-seek for Floyd and Jade, then it’s like being targeted as a raid boss for me…  

Home Tap 3:

Ah, all the dishes are delicious. In school, it’s inconvenient to eat like this everyday; however, it’s nice to see everyone enjoying their fill. Though, some thought we’d charge them… 

Home Tap 4:

M~hm~… This? Ah, just finished collecting the birthday bonuses from my mobile games. Finally upgraded enough resources for some personal goals. 

Home Tap 5:

It’s unfortunate but expected… there’s no weekend exemption to leave the isle for even a day trip. Maybe over winter break— this ‘geocache’ treasure hunt sounds perfect to try. Old-growth forest, wildlife warnings, a neighboring town with a ‘history of currency’ museum… Interested?

Home Tap - Groovy:

If you keep a gift on hand, you can immediately pay back a gift once given. Then you don’t have any debts to remember. 

Duo:

[MORGAN]: You’re in the way… of the cake. 

[YUU/GRIM]: Which slice did you want to try next?

Birthday Login Message:

Ah, this is for me. Thank you. It looks wrapped with care. I’ll try to open it as carefully, too; it’ll have to be hidden from Jade and Floyd. Nobody seems to know when your birthday is, and I wasn’t sure if you like it much either… so I tried to pick a special return gift you may find some use in. …Ah? You don’t want it? …No, you can’t accept it? But I’m giving it. …Then I can’t accept your gift either. And I was looking forward to it… Oh, excellent. Let me know later how you like your gift. 

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SSR Broomquet Voicelines

When Summoned: 

What makes a day special is its experiences and its memories. Let’s make good ones together… okay? 

Summon Line:

Mmh… can’t say I’ve ever tried a cape as long or as… ornamental as this. But life’s about new experiences, isn’t it?

Groooovy!!:

Have you heard that skilled enough mages used to be able to fly without brooms? …However one starts off as, it’s natural to be fascinated by flight. 

Home:

What magic to use… hahh…  

Home Idle 1:

When it comes to someone who’s never missed a birthday wish or a gift, even since first year… Whenever that one’s big round ears start poking around, it’s about time. They can’t all be heartfelt presents, but… he does always look happy from the heart for the return gift. …So it’s fine. 

(Ruggie)

Home Idle 2:

As usual, can’t even sleep in on my own birthday… But this time, Jade made a cup of this cute apple-in-apple tea that wasn’t too sweet. Maybe he finally grew a sense of consideration… hah. After all, he specifically assured me he didn’t add anything fun at all. 

(Applepom Jade: introducing this kind of tea to Mostro Lounge.) 

Home Idle 3:

Trading Mostro shifts? The people worth entrusting work to are generally too busy to consider asking. Or there’s valuable kitchen niches they’re better off in. Although, generally, everyone tends to prefer if I’m on during one of Floyd or Jade’s shifts… 

Home Idle - Login:

Surprises aren’t really my idea of a good birthday. What is? …Ideas keep changing with the person every year. 

Home Idle - Groovy:

Having the interviewers that they have is serendipity for Jade and Floyd. They both already have soft spots for… such interesting oddballs. At the very least, editing their interviews shouldn’t cause any additional trouble. 

(Kalim, Ortho)

Home Tap 1:

A very classic witch’s hat, and the modern silhouette of the bloom-broom… It would be a good look with my school uniform as well, or an all-black outfit… 

Home Tap 2:

Us three all agreed last year to do a shoe swap, yes. I picked mine out a while ago… special commission from an artist. I think Jade liked the personal touch of the embroidered flora and fungi from his garden, even if they’re not practical for mountaineering. And Floyd added his own flair to his designer taste, with these flashy holographic fish-print laces. …He’s not being sneaky with gifting basketball sneakers, though.

Home Tap 3:

You think it’s ‘sentimental’, to add some ocean accents to the flowers…? No… ‘cute’? …Well. Thank you. Was thinking of drying some for bookmarks… You can have a couple too, after the shoot. 

(Union Birthday Jade: Rook teaching how to make pressed flower bookmarks.)

Home Tap 4:

Azul’s attitude towards the school store is a little…* Mm. Regardless of past or future schemes, that business sense is worth studying. Even I walked out earlier with such a haul of impulse buys— the ‘birthday specials’ were just too good. Felt like every desire was anticipated… Wonder if the shopkeep does business with any of our cousins? 

*Mor’s rare ‘smiling’ animation. 

(Sam, Azul)  

Home Tap 5:

Ah…? You’ll pluck the petals right off if you keep poking at it like it’ll run away, you know— ahem. For a moment, you reminded me of someone else…

(Yuu excessively tapping/‘poking’: Mor slipping into very casual and faster talking speech he uses with Octatrio for Yuu.) 

Home Tap - Groovy:

Flying at night really feels much more comfortable, like you’re floating in dark water past the swimming stars… Still, any day both Jade and Floyd are excited to fly is a good day. Maybe we’ll have time for a birthday chase, before the party? 

Duo: 

[MORGAN]: This is already over.

[YUU/GRIM]: Don’t worry, take your time!

Birthday Login Message:

Oh… thank you sincerely for the gift, Yuu. And the birthday well wishes. May yours be many more. How did you know exactly what I’d like…? I’ll use it soon. I’m looking forward to giving your birthday present— What? Now I can’t give you a return gift or talk about your birthday present? 

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SSR Platinum Dress Voicelines

When Summoned:

The 100th anniversary…? It’s certainly worth noting and celebrating. There are far fewer museums underwater. But they’re also often far older. 

Summon Line:

Floyd and I were always the most excited, at those dignified art affairs, to chatter about what caught our eye. Still, Jade was definitely the one who couldn’t be moved until he’d admired his fill. 

Groooovy!!:

Hm? —Oh, not quite. Fortune telling was always more of… a land tradition. Crystal balls are used more… presently, undersea.  

Home:

…Time passes quicker than one would think, huh. 100 years… 

Home Idle 1:

Drawing? Well, I suppose you could say we were all raised with an appreciation for the arts. It’s valued quite a lot in the well-rounded merfolk. Our parents were both amateurs, in the passionate sense, in their own ways. 

Home Idle 2:

That bodyguard was admiring the same woodland creature scene I was, earlier… Though, how could how he start nodding off in front of those detailed fluffy paintstrokes and gently leaf-dappled luminosity…! 

(Silver) 

Home Idle 3:

Did you think you could get away with that look? I see right through you. …Shall we sneak away to the gift shop together first…? It’s usually uncomfortable being watched picking gifts, but… you’re welcome to come, of course. 

Home Idle - Login:

Preparing before coming to the art museum? Of course. Noted down the must-sees. If you don’t have plans… feel free to join me. 

Home Idle - Groovy:

Riddle-san never fails to surprise me with his studiousness. He’d be stiff competition in a trivia contest… Wonder how he’d do, traveling undersea? Kalim-san… never fails to surprise me, either. Or make me smile with his curiosity. He seems the type my tropical cousins would love to meet…

Home Tap 1:

Sometimes Jade and I sketch together, especially when I’m able to spare time to accompany him on a hike. We both prefer taking photos of scenery without us in it… though, snapping secret shots of each other is its own little game. Then there’s games like ‘guess the mushroom’, ‘guess the unexpected weather’, ‘guess what’s for dinner’… Least favorite is ‘guess what large animal tracks those lead to.’ 

Home Tap 2:

‘It’s always some kind of landscape with animals’…? It’s that predictable, huh. Well, then: show me a more impressively choreographed still frame than this savannah dance…?

Home Tap 3:

Perhaps they’re used to considering camera lighting, or the set details… Those familiar with the Film Research Club seem to all appreciate the fine rendering of reflections in the eyes, the bubbles, and the crystal surfaces. Worth discussing with…

(Vil, can also mean Rook.)

Home Tap 4:

The paintings are the main event this time. Still, it would be lovely to be able to spend more time with the sculptures and the dioramas… Oh, and of course the furniture, and it’s said they have a collection of original grimoires in the back… Seeing the scans online just isn’t the same. 

Home Tap 5:

Alright, be right over… Azul texted. Us four still haven’t taken pictures yet for our families. We were supposed to meet in front of the eels and the Sea Witch… I was outvoted on the birds’ eye view of the rose maze. 

Home Tap - Groovy:

Where are you going?— We still haven’t had our picture, you know? Lead the way. I want to remember this: it’s been a picture-perfect day. 

Duo:

[MORGAN]: Yuu…The picture isn’t perfect anymore…

[YUU/GRIM]: Let’s retake it after taking them out!

Birthday Login Message:

You want me to ask for something from you…? As a special present? Well, all of your presence is special. —Hah, you smiled. Hmm, a serious answer… To be honest. Something I’ve always been curious about… would you tell me more about your world? Anything will do. Daily, mundane life… The little things that made you happy. Or sad. Or… whatever. And maybe, if you remember anything you like to eat, we can try cooking it. What do you think?

Notes:

thank you deeply to Mystery Shop TLs on tumblr for being such a good reference of translated JP voicelines, all in one place! tbh i typically refer to them or to the twst wiki.gg (which often links to them as a translator source anyway).

Chapter 3: [metagame | game!yuu] pt. 2

Summary:

i procrastinated on 7habits ch18 by answering unanswered old comments, found a snippet in old comments that i hadn't posted in au sidestory ch2, procrastinated by putting this whole chapter together of new and old and expanded notes and comment replies, and now i'm motivating myself to keep writing ch18 by posting this now for more comments lol

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text



Metagame AU:   the one where morgan leech is a character card within the game world of Twisted Wonderland, existing as the fourth summonable Octavinelle dorm member.

aka: the one with game!yuu.



recap of extended AU premise:

metagame!au encompasses: (and unless specified, is from an outsider pov ambiguously accurate to all of these) 

  1. morgan leech is a character in the game. morgan leech is aware of this, and makes meta references often, speaking to the eldritch player avatar called Yuu, who does not really exist, and is only a puppet for the higher powers playing the game. maybe despite himself, he develops a fondness for this symbol of his own futile reality. morgan is resigned to their predestined fate and passively exists while mostly trying to ignore his own self-awareness, but has sincere relationships with the other characters who are as dubiously real as they are. whether morgan leech remembers a past life outside the game is ambiguous and never confirmed. morgan and/or "yuu"(?) pov.
  2. morgan leech is a character in the game. morgan leech is a strange character, though only one of many a cast of strange characters, so it doesn't matter much. however, he has his own fans, merch, etc., and we visit a forum where fans are theorycrafting about them. one of the most popular theories is that mor is actually somewhat self-aware of the fourth wall; largely regarded a crack theory, it's still a popular one, drawn from how he has many in-game voicelines that make ambiguously meta references, though he never shows this tendency in the story (likely just coincidences meant for emotional bonding), and how his playable character seems to treat 'Yuu' much friendlier than in the story (a tendency shared by much of the cast for marketing reasons). of course morgan has relationships with other characters; it's all character lore, isn't it? a much more niche crack theory is that morgan is not who they say they are, somehow. player pov.
  3. morgan leech is a character in the game(?). this may or may not be the game that 2. is spectating. he is entirely oblivious to this, and makes meta references often, speaking mostly to his own thoughts because he likes the false comfort of knowing what's going on in his disastrous life at any given moment. yuu is the new magicless student from another world, and may be either game!yuu, manga!yuu(s), or lightnovel!yuu (who all have distinctly interesting personalities to play with). they are their own person, and also oblivious to any unusualness about their reality. importantly, they are "a good person", and so morgan takes an instant protective shine to them. however, they usually try not to interfere with others' business, and they're intensely awkward about befriending yuu, which makes things difficult. twst!game!canon may or may not go off the rails in various ways, or maybe everything stays mostly the same until the octavinelle book 3, where things really start changing. the dissonance of 2.'s mor's friendly voicelines and detached story appearance is explained more here, as we see how much and why mor really wants to get close to yuu, but doesn't want to make that obvious. we see such iconic moments such as yuu calling mor their newspaper senpai and also 'nicer than you seem', and mor acting as everything from a distant upperclassment to a caring friend to an exasperated older brother to a totally unimpressive dork. as a person, of course he has relationships with other characters. whether morgan leech remembers a past life outside the game is ambiguous and never confirmed. yuu and/or morgan pov.
  4. same as 3, except it's written specifically as ddb canon/canon-complicit continuation into the threels' second year, and thus, yuu entering nrc. so, morgan's specific characterization after ddb book 2 is carried over, and yuu's world is confirmed to be a world very similar to and possibly the same as morgan's (i.e., disney does not exist), and morgan speedruns their existential crisis to the conclusion that they are Isekai Trauma Buddies and Must Protect The Yuu. this sends twst!game!canon wildly off the rails.

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mor and the dorm heads: (aka, what does mor think of the dorm heads?)

since we're still solidly in book 1 of ddb, the “mor and the ___” opinions can be considered part of the metagame!au (i.e., what if mor was always part of the octavinelle gang and is supposedly not self aware as being within a mobile game), and/or part of hypothetical nrc musings. however you want to enjoy it! 

please note that i specifically write these with a certain ‘metagame!mor’ characterization in mind that has already differentiated in some aspects from ddb!mor, due to reader votes.

 

riddle

mor -> riddle 

mor’s very first impression of riddle in freshman orientation is that he’s so small that it’s kind of very concerning as he’s unsure how to handle him. like a horse spooked by a mouse. but this is quickly dispelled by the magically fantastical feat of mighty fantastic violence done against floyd, which instantly earns both floyd and mor’s respect and intrigue. then riddle won dorm head in another feat of violence in the very first week of school… like, wow. 

by second year, mor respects and admires riddle’s deep investment in his students, very clear commitment to a set of social and behavioral rules, and unchallenged academic domination (to azul’s furious competition). it makes him relatively predictable, and a good brain to pick for very specific topics. disappointed that riddle’s intellectual curiosity sort of ends with grades and tests, though— such a rigid, intense mind. …kind of wants to spar him magically. this is obviously a nerd with a repressed craving for catharsis and possessing all kinds of violent capabilities. that’s kind of familiar.

riddle -> mor 

riddle is satisfied that mor sincerely respects his authority and his rules, even if they don’t entirely get all of them, they always assume riddle’s priority should naturally be them. (mor is careful to hide how much they really don’t respect ‘meaningless’ heartslabyul rules, because they understand it’s very meaningful to riddle.) overall mor is a polite and hardworking yearmate who’s academically achieving, if too prone to irrelevant questions and tangents of curiosity. but being too willing to learn is not a bad thing, as long as they’re obedient to learning what’s correct first. 

riddle is not at all intimidated by mor and is socially oblivious to the passive ‘don’t talk to me’ glare, entirely bypassing that. they probably never think to talk outside of class, but they maybe casually talk homework and tests (especially the high level extra credit challenges) in class, and trade (nonfiction research reference) book reccs if they’ve worked on group projects before or sit near in desks. i think they’d identify each other earlier on as good project partners. although after the first experience of understanding that the best way forward is to compromise to riddle’s vision, mor might avoid partnering with him on any projects they want a more equal say on. riddle would be easy to mislead socially, and would believe it’s just a coincidence… especially since mor wants to preserve good relations between them.

 

leona

mor -> leona 

mor admires leona’s leadership and expertise in a variety of subjects, especially how advanced he is in ancient runes and incantations. that’s gradschool-ready stuff. similar to how jack looks up to leona’s spelldrive recordings, maybe mor looks up to past research papers/projects leona’s done, if trein and crewel ever show them as past examples or if they’re preserved somewhere etc. considers it very wise to not exert useless energy worrying over things that don’t matter or won’t change. leona very clearly knows what he does and does not have interest in, and doesn’t get involved in anything unless he really wants to or if he wants to spare himself annoyances; if only leona seemed happier, mor would consider this mindset ideal. hopeful leona will go into mage academia or at least keep publishing papers if he goes commercial; takes it as fact leona will succeed in whatever he wants outside of family business.

mor: wondering why the gap is so big between this ‘no chance of being king’ prince (leona) and this ‘non-zero chance of being king’ prince (riale with a censored face)… 

leona -> mor 

leona can tell that mor really respects him and would not ask too many questions if told to do something as a result; he can also tell that mor is quite capable in several regards but is not going to be useful against any of the octatrio. subconsciously, he probably classifies mor as being in the same category as his savanaclaw (fanboy) subordinates — useful and easy to move pieces, and people whose respect he doesn’t necessarily feel good about, but whose image of him he will not disappoint unless needed. (compared to people like vil, whose respect is intrinsically linked also to disappointment/expectations, and who he thus takes a petty pleasure in not caring to live up their expectations.) it’s quite easy to see that mor has hesitations about their future inheritance, but that’s none of leona’s business.

leona: contemplating pros and cons of changing ‘who would you bring to a deserted island’ (birthday jacket SSR card) canon answer from ‘(heir) kalim who will get rescued but talk too much’ to ‘(merfolk) morgan who will rescue but think too much’...

 

azul

mor -> azul

oh, boy. let’s call this arc 3 and 4 spoilers? there’s really so many nuances that could play out specifically. 

whatever their backstory is, metagame!mor is notably partial to azul and they have a bit of a mutual ‘special treatment’ preference for each other in the octaquartet, often shown ganging up on jade and floyd to match their ganging up. (although any duo combo in the oct4 can and will gleefully turn on the others, it’s all situational and on good fun.) 

mor is the most agreeable to azul, not needing the coaxing of floyd or the negotiation of jade, but azul actually asks mor to do the least. cause and effect is up for interpretation.

azul -> mor

considers mor a precision instrument which can do a lot generally well but excels in specific areas, and he applies them accordingly. or maybe they’re his most reliable fist around the throat. or maybe they’re his crystal ball, his cinching move, to be used only as needed and hidden otherwise. or maybe they’re his watcher, evaluator, to decide if he’s good enough to keep following, to keep investing, to keep. 

they have an undisclosed, long-standing contract. 

 

kalim

mor -> kalim

second years stick together, or something like that. mor was surprised and interested in kalim’s unusual late, mid-semester admittance to nrc… but looking into it really seems to just point to crowley wooing their family for donations. straightforward. they haven’t talked much and mor’s not sure they have any interests in common to really talk about, but he quietly thinks they have a lot in common in their birthrights, upbringing, (being the oldest sibling,) and the weight of being heirs to metaphorical empires of sin. you don’t get to be as rich and powerful as either of their bloodlines — the al asims far more so — without a lot of blood and evil. …but kalim seems so good. hm. 

mor likes watching kalim being… glittery and sincere at people who don’t know how to react, it’s like watching a rare endangered bird photobomb people. actually interacting with kalim themself is kind of uncomfortable but in an okay way, mor feels it brings his own sincerity more to the surface. 

kalim -> mor

kalim thinks mor is a pretty good guy overall, not the best at explaining things (such as when they’re in class together and kalim asks), but they don’t get annoyed or irritated as long as kalim’s sincere about not getting it. they don’t have many intersections, and mor always turns down kalim’s party and banquet invites, but he can tell they actually do appreciate the invite even if they really are uncomfortable with crowds/strangers etc., so he keeps inviting them just so mor can decline them, it’s kind of their thing! overall gradual impression, compares mor favorably to jamil (this is a common compliment for kalim), in that he sees them as a serious observant closed-off quiet type who cares a lot (selectively) underneath pretending he doesn’t (evident by how attentive (and more talkative) mor is to his triplets and azul and generally dorm mates too). 

he appreciates that they give compliments only when sincere/earned— such as when mor witnessed kalim’s well-earned business skills, or one of his well-hosted banquets. mor also was one of the first ppl outside of his dorm to congratulate him as dorm head! he thinks it would be fun to magically spar mor, but jamil discouraged him from asking… 

 

vil

mor -> vil

mor grew up watching vil’s dad’s movies with his dad, and also a few of vil’s movies (mr. leech is not as much of a fan, but gave it a shot because of the legacy connection). vil is kind of cemented in mor’s mind as ‘the younger schoenheit/venue’. there’s some celebrity admiration there, but mor cares about the art (movies, and once on land and with greater internet access, modeling/fashion) and not necessarily the other stuff (life, interviews, sponsors, etc.). admires his style, discipline, skill, and the hard work to hone all that. 

‘meeting your (casual) hero’ has not disillusioned mor at all; in fact, the more mor knows how vil is at nrc and magic-wise, the more he just respects him as a senior, a leader, an incredibly efficient get-things-done-er. (of course they’re still going to gang up with jade and azul to force floyd to suffer the slime extraction… iykyk.) doesn't necessarily treat vil that differently (they think), and they don’t overlap much, but they’ve looked into the sort of advanced cursework vil’s done with crewel before as inspiration.

vil -> mor

vil can tell that mor really respects him as a person, student, professional, leader, etc. the subtly starry eyed look of a fan is unmistakable to a trained eye like his. he’s slightly more gracious and tolerant/patient with mor for 1. being a fan, 2. being a biddable underclassman, 3. being a well-moisturized potato. or a sweet potato? if mor isn’t already in the film studies club, then they’ve likely been enlisted by vil at some point or another for contracted support. mor is quiet unless spoken to or has something thoughtful to contribute, detail-oriented and logistically keen, easy to reason with and takes to command fine, generally skilled and useful, and clear to understand (in the capacity vil would usually care to). 

points off for mor also being starry eyed at leona — really? get better taste in idols, you started off so great with me — and for mor not actually being that biddable if he’s got his own stubborn way of doing things he doesn’t actually intend to change. (there’s a fine line between what self-improvement advice mor will take immediately, eventually remember to take, or never plan on taking. but at least they’re honest if asked, vil begrudgingly notes.) 

 

idia

mor -> idia  

"ortho’s brother and azul’s capitalist crush?” (fascinated by fiery curse symptoms)"

knows of idia plenty, but doesn’t know him well and has rarely had opportunity to interact or even see the guy outside of tablet form. idia is on mor’s mental list of ‘nrc ppl with gold eyes and therefore normalizing gold’, as well as much shorter list of ‘nrc ppl of interest’ for bloodline curse physical appearance. would like to study idia in a totally normal way. has a faint good impression based off his research/works and what ortho and azul enthuse about him. is aware of the arrogant reputation, but like, of course, that’s genius. 

not impressed by his leadership of ignihyde at all; thinks he really shouldn’t have been chosen, but also doesn’t expect any better of a school that espouses ‘might makes right’ when it come to dorm leader challenges. if they ever have a conversation on technomancy, mor would be kinda starry-eyed over his research. 

idia -> mor  

“so is this the secretly good one or the secretly worst one” (triplets tropes)

mor is #1 on idia’s ‘introvert most likely to socialize’ list for nrc. and a couple other lists like ‘most likely to end a fight just by entering’ etc. knows mor looked into STYX research lab and blot research from the online browser history flags he set up but that it’s a false alarm, or at least a low priority flag, the guy’s just a geek. ortho talks sometimes about mor being a great big brother. thinks mor must be a freak if he’s in the octaquartet, but at least he won’t try and talk to him if they ever encounter each other, so that makes mor, like, okay. 

if they ever had a conversation on technomancy and idia considers mor barely proficient enough to understand how far ahead idia is, he’d be pretty magnanimous in smugly answering basic questions, probably, maybe. considers mor a rare and deeply unfair comparison example of a nerd jock. 

 

malleus

mor -> malleus

The Malleus Draconia…! mor is already sensitive to magic, and notably uneasy around powerful fae who are so deeply connected to magic as a result, and malleus is like, The Most Powerful Fae Alive. as well as canonically has a strongly unsettling magical aura that your typical nrc student feels, and canonically bad control over emotional leakage into his magic manifestations. has really cool horns and dragon form supposedly. mor’s childhood dreams of being a sea dragon are envious and his magic nerd present-day is excited. 

underneath the crushing suffocating heady false-real terror and all that. resolutely plans to (attempt) to have at least one in depth conversation with malleus before he graduates, to tentatively pick his brain… keeps putting this off… ‘let’s just go back and watch my not-tamagotchi be happy to soothe myself from this failure’, mor thinks. 

malleus -> mor

malleus does not know who mor is, mostly. if pressed to remember, knows there’s the leech triplets. maybe eventually gets to know mor as the tallest one who keeps staring at his horns — actually, mor should be taller than malleus without the horns, so maybe malleus gets the amusing novelty of having to look up (sebek pops up ready to declare mor’s unforgivable audacity at making the young master look up, mor should bow down!!!) .  

if malleus ever idly confronts mor abt staring at him, mor’s well-kept composure would probably crack, but i think mor would answer normally/carefully enough that malleus is at best entertained and at worst dismissive. (different question perhaps if he ever found out he can get gao gao dragon-kun a friend… and then found out mor absolutely doesn’t subscribe to the ‘endless life cycles’ care philosophy and instead hacks/freezes at the ideal desired point… hmm…) 

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mor and online nicknames: aka, what does mor think about [gloomurai]?

[??] -> [gloomurai] 

“i’m a healer, but…” to “your mouth is aggro, keep talking”

[gloomurai] -> [??] 

“LOL git gud” to “nobody else knows how to play support” 

from a rough start as strangers in a mmorpg where lone wolf single-player dps [gloomurai] accidentally PK’d noob beginner support class [??] and played it off as rudely intentional before returning to his grinding and forgetting all about it, hence starting [??]’s revenge arc and training power up journey through the power of deep-diving meta and trading favors… to somehow ending up fast fandom frenemies for each others’ almost-correct-but-oh-so-wrong-opinions, a powergaming party, and a closeknit guild of three (where both [gloomurai] and [??] blatantly express preference for the much-amused [muscle red]), it’s been a lot of off-screen blood pressure spikes and reluctant ‘i hate you but we cover each others’ weaknesses and enhance each others’ strengths’ bonding. 

there’s just something about that comradeship forged through frustrating gimmicky questlines for the Limited Time Aesthetic Item, about losing and winning and schadenfreude in gacha pulls, about finally killing a raid boss on an underleveled and undernumbered semi-meme comp… 

(and through late night calls and the cover of solid anonymity, maybe there’s something about that understanding built on loving your family — although sometimes, often, always you think that love is not enough to make up for your failures — but not wanting to continue in their legacy but you don’t really have a choice and nobody else really gets that because they can’t, because you have to hide things from the people around you for their own good, because you have to view all your bonds as ephemeral and kind of lowkey highkey meaningless in the grand scheme of your destiny that paints over your present in every thought. 

except the escapism of gaming, like hard work equals predictable returns, like a tragedy’s catharsis you can click in and out of story mode for, like you can really be a hero and you can really help people.

anyway [gloomurai] was totally joking about lameass rping and making OCs with [??]. it’s all a joke, bro. he absolutely was not overcome with An Emotion at [??] hitting him with that ‘happy in-game birthday i drew your avatar/PC/OC with our guild in silly party hats haha’ high-effort JPEG. it’s not printed out in his desk, obviously not. farming rare drop mats to build that niche off-meta weapon that’s only useful for an aesthetic stitch to return the in-game birthday gift to [??] is just, like, whatever, don’t drag down the comp.)

Audience Participation!

feel free to give me suggestions for mor’s username! we’ll see if it shows up / gets voted on near end of arc 4 or in book 2. 

  • i was thinking of maybe [seazygy] or [cyzygy] (pronounced the same) for starters… for sea/see + syzygy, or cyber + see + syzygy. 
  • maybe something with an emoticon with those big ol eyes would be cute though? allows for some abstract nicknames. 
    • [O.O;;33] looks like a nervous fish? 
    • [( ༎ຶ ۝ ༎ຶ )9] looks like how you feel playing pvp
  • something a little meta with the bubbles? 
    • [seadream・。゚] 
    • [triplekill・。゚]
  • making an in-joke about leeches = bloodsuckers? unintentionally amusing ‘[muscle red],,, 
    • [seavampyre] 
    • [bloodsuckered] 

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mor and clubs: aka, what does mor think about the clubs (as a first year)?

prompted by question from Crossfire12: 

do we know which club Mor is in? I'd love to see something with him enjoying his time with club activities and potentially bonding with other club members assuming there are other members and not just one like with Jade or Malleus. Personally I see him vibing in the Science club since he and Rook are good friends.

  • we do not know yet for ddb! it will be up for reader vote in book 2 :> <3 i will say it'll be much easier to vote mor into mountain lover's club rather than gargoyle appreciation club for obvious reasons but it will be theoretically likely to vote mor into any of the clubs!! (just, not guaranteed to have them stay in membership lol)
  • *metagame!mor and rook are good friends! just a light reminder that ddb!mor may not turn out that way depending on reader votes :> although i would be happy to have them do so !! though, regardless, one does pick a club rather early in school so it'd be before any friendship significantly develops (and actually, now i wonder if rook was always in science club, given he starts off in savanaclaw, and he does mention a big motivation for science club being to develop special effects for vil's film club (which vil is said, i think, to have founded)) <-- i can figure all that out when i actually get to book 2 and need to wrangle my references in order lol
  • metagame!mor is Decided to be in newspaper club just because of yuu's Main Characterness lol

Since we now know a lot of club uniforms, I’ve added the following answer, [expanded for this posting]

i think mor would have the following club opinions (as a first year):

  • gargoyle appreciation club: best uniform, afraid of The Malleus Draconia and especially sensitive to his dangerous magical energy. the vibes are giving evacuation sirens and he can probably get used to it but doesn’t have a reason to (yet?) 
  • spelldrive club: second best uniform, not a good flyer (yet) though he intends to work on it, and hates being perceived as being bad at any skill. picky about teamwork. would consider it for a second year club switch if they grind to an ‘acceptable’ level 
  • science club: third best uniform, and pretty good at research and experimentation already from magic study and personal inclinations. but hates being perceived as being bad at any skill, and there’s sooo many people (it’s canonically crowded), and being labmates is kinda too personal, mor would feel embarrassed to really take risks with observed projects and then what’s the point without taking risks?
  • ‘pop music’ / light music club: unranked best uniform since it’s literally wear what you want. but that’s kinda too personal, mor would feel embarrassed, just, generally. more importantly though it’s way too loud and he’s picky about teamwork and it’s so disorganized and! it’s a social club rip 
  • basketball and track and field club: eh, it’s a uniform. picky about teamwork. not a sports person much.
  • mountain lovers club: doesn’t exist as a first year. jade either joins another club first or immediate proposes founding a club, inspired by the one-person gargoyle appreciation club. mor would support jade if there’s no other club they want to join, knowing that jade would appreciate but not need/ask mor to, he just offers it as an option. (don’t tell him though that mor thinks the uniform is not in top three……)
  • equestrian club: (uniform not revealed) nonono, horses and mor are mutually scared of each other. (mor is scared of specifically the responsibility of keeping this living feeling being safe and disciplined and deserving that loyalty.) 
  • film research club: (uniform not revealed) vil seems like a good leader/boss, and mor admires the craft. people would probably be too busy having actor drama to talk to him. isn’t, like, desperately wanting to do manual labor or practice painting or propmaking etc., but could see themself being interested in learning the skills.
  • board game club: (uniform not revealed) more interested in learning practical technomancy, (secretly excited for board games but) wary of playing with others. turned off by the not exactly welcoming recruitment attitude, concerned about gatekeeping study, but can soldier through with opportunity

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mor and rook nicknames: aka, what does rook think about mor (nicknames)?

prompted by question from Lavalamp24:

In other news, I’m now thinking of possible Rook nicknames for mor…

  • ill just share my planning notes abt it LOL from 8/19/22 lets gooo . very fascinating looking into his JP nicknames for the tweels being specific terms/categorizations for premeditated vs spontaneous crimes and the many ways fan translators and also official EN translation took that!

obligatory disclaimer that this nickname may change in ddb from readers’ votes.

originally 確信犯 , to fit with brothers; a "crime of conviction", where one performs the crime according to the beliefs that they are right, or rather, according to the beliefs that what they are doing should not be a crime (even if they acknowledge it is perceived by others to be a crime). this is how he sees mor's apparent compromise between his strong moral interests and his actual actions.

perhaps once he knows mor better, this nickname could change to '模倣犯', a 'copycat crime', where one performs the crime regardless of personal beliefs, where beliefs don't necessarily have anything to do with the perpetuation of a previous example. it would be somewhat ironic comparison to the previous nickname, and yet, meant to reflect a deeper understanding, rather than a more insulting name.

in a french translation (such as in the EN version of the game), 'conviction' would be 'légitime' for 'legitimate' and derived from the term for ‘self-defense’ (légitime défense), conveying a sense of 'someone who does not do things without perceived good reason', and 'copycat' would be 'impersonnel' for 'impersonal' (and a riff off of a ‘crime of passion’ antonym) or perhaps ‘complice’ for ‘accomplice’, conveying a somewhat contradictory yet built-on sense of 'someone who does not do things for personal reasons' or ‘someone who does things because of others, not for oneself’

also to consider: 証人 or témoin, for 'witness'; the implication of 'someone who observes a crime but is not involved'.

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mor in playfulland: aka, what does mor do in this event?

originally i thought playful land happened at the same time as glorious masquerade, hence why the cast swaps, and i figured mor would fit better into glorious masquerade. but actually reading the story made me realize they’re not chronologically related, and moreso made me realize mor would definitely also think it’s super shady like azul but be compelled to follow their brothers to watch over them once realizing they really want to go. 

(well, actually i think the more protective ddb!mor would go to watch over them and wouldn’t try that hard to dissuade their indulgence, while the more passive metagame!mor would trust floyd and jade to take care of themselves and would just side with azul while also snickering as threels at azul. 

but for the purpose of this au we’re saying that metagame!mor convinces himself to also go because he’s privately intrigued, (and their siblings want them to go so azul gets less annoyed at them than he would be if morgan stayed obediently as a comparison), and they think the threels can handle anything together.) 

  • mor doesn’t meet fellow and gidel in foothill town; he first hears of this with azul.
  • mor comes in being very interested in specifically the practical magic involved in the park’s secrecy and daily operations, etc. mentions casually that the former (anti-tracking, shielding etc.) is exactly the sort of useful shady business stuff that azul (and leeches) would appreciate… but in latter scenes, is notably more interested in exploring the entertainment enchantments
  • mor would notice/call out the really tall walls immediately before entering the park, because he would be thinking abt floating island = merfolk easy to leave
  • mor would be hesitant with having eyes/face exposed by the outfit transformation, but would be convinced by everyone that it’s a good dramatic change from their usual image, especially because he does actually like the outfit even if it’s not something ‘morgan leech’ would ever wear
  • mor would take a lot of notice of the rules, but would also be very easily willing to accept that their special guest party are exceptions; they’re super used to ‘rules are made to be broken’ and ‘special treatment’ mentality from the leech upbringing
  • ddb!mor, who has expertise in wards, would notice and be intrigued by something about the signpost rules being significance points for a massive, complex ward… but can’t really examine further, since they keep having their concentration interrupted by the crowd of people, or fellow students, or deliberately by fellow (and gidel) who claim to not want them to slow down lines, stand in the way, or infringe on trade secrets! their suspicion is successfully defeated like everyone else’s by the end of the day
  • (not sure if ddb!mor with magic sensitivity would be able to tell that fellow is casting his UM, if lilia couldn’t tell. especially with the UM obviously working on them too. let’s say they don’t notice, and are especially unsettled at the reveal because they usually pride themself on their detection.)
  • mor suggests restraining a puppet to examine the enchantment rules, after leona has already proven that it doesn’t count as harm if you don’t physically injure them.
  • they’re successful in giving a hint earlier in the story that the puppets have ‘code/rules’ they need to follow that’s an absolute priority over chasing them.
  • however, they then get puppet-fied in the midst of their magical examination because fellow’s own earlier hint was actually not lying about ‘intellectual property theft’ being ‘harm to the park’. so they’re cut off when saying ‘the puppets’ priority is to be good workers—‘ (and please guests)
  • the rest of the story plays out similarly to canon, with ace getting the idea of ‘overriding’ the puppets with the ‘guests’ priority
  • (jade and floyd aren’t that panicked in canon, and mor being in the caged gang doesn’t affect much. mor keeps rather quiet, and the new dialogue would only be floyd and jade jokingly commenting on mor’s ‘scary/focused face’ and mor pitching in to the ‘pro-school talk’. i think the threels are all thinking in agreement that if they actually got sold off as living tools, the Leeches would do their best to recover them. …but if they can’t be found on land… well, the threels are unified in not showing weakness in public, no matter what they think/feel.)
  • (honestly, then mor starts considering how much lilia cares about their cohort and how much leverage crowley has over malleus, because let’s be real, even though he’d place his bets on the al asims as second and the kingscholars as third for likely success in mobilizing impressive resources for recovering them, the first is definitely going to be malleus (and the briar valley fae by association) succeeding sooner than later. (leeches are pragmatically fourth.) so then it should be a matter of time before they also get rescued, as long as they survive and aren’t hidden away too thoroughly…)
  • when they are freed and contemplating (jokingly) swimming back, when fellow proposes he steer the ship back, mor half-seriously proposes they actually do just swim back and not spend a second longer with fellow, reasoning that ‘(we merfolk) can carry three each easily, and fae can fly’. (then floyd and jade make teasing/ominous threats along the lines of, ‘i guess it’d be interesting to drag your dead weight for a while… no promises on the whole way,’ and ‘now then, surely you all trust your lives more to our hands and tails than to this one’s heart?’)
  • so in the end they steer back like canon lol
  • right before they part ways with fellow and gidel, mor mutters that he wishes rook was here to agree with him on the need to keep an eye on those two for their own good. (implying mor distrusts either fellow’s change of heart or ability to protect gidel and himself from ex-bosses’ retribution (or both), and implying rook’s usage of UM for magic tracking is known to mor.)

 

(note: mor wouldn’t wear the hat or suspenders again, and they cut the long ribbons off the wrists, but… otherwise, they would absolutely keep the remaining clothes to wear again.)

.

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AU Highlights from Reader Comments:

GD_Wonder (Feb 2023, 7habits ch11, probably when i originally posted the vice dorm head thoughts in sidestory?): Mor Will Have Any Relationship? (It's Possible?) Because I Can Imagine Him Dating With Ruggie!!! (And He Even Worked In Mostro Lounge!!!) I Mean, Ruggie is cunning, smart and practical plus he's also loyal once you have his allegiance Andddddddddd! HE'S CUTEEEEE~!!! Mors Cannot resist! 

[Although it would be fun if it's Ruggie who chases Mors once he discovers his personality (I mean, you have to be very good at reading people when you live in bad conditions and you have to avoid unwanted situations) and if you're in Night Raven it's pretty nice to have a big shot as an ally~!!! :3] 

  • it's possible !! i think for the main 'canon' story (book 1 and book 2 of this series) mor will not have any romance, due to being too busy/stressed/mentally not ready for anything like that with anyone around him, but i'm very willing to encourage readers to imagine whatever they want and to explore shippy what-ifs in sidestory drabbles (anything where mor recognizes and returns the feelings will likely be post-graduation, though).
  • it's funny you mention ruggie, i did write up a little non-canon scene before about mor and yuu talking about ruggie that you might enjoy in that case (and it's canon mor thinks ruggie is cute, but he thinks this about a lot of people as a platonic judgement): 

[expanded for this posting]

“What I think is cute about Ruggie…?” Mor parrots slowly, in that thoughtful way they have when seriously considering something they nonetheless thought to be a bit silly. 

Yuu nods eagerly, curiosity sparked after remembering a throwaway half-joking comment this usually reticent friend had made a while ago about the part-timer’s work ethic being just one of the reasons he was sometimes cuter than their brothers.

His brows furrow with that scary-faced focus that means he’s actually just taking this question super seriously. Which is maybe too seriously; Yuu just wants any answer to get an idea of, don’t overthink it!  

This Mostro Lounge break isn’t going to last that long before he’s called away again, and Yuu wants to maximize enjoyment of chatting over this (deliciously free) drink with a friend. C’mon, like, anything!

“Hmm… Just one thing? Then. When he does that kind of smile where he narrows his eyes so the light in them goes out...? And it sort of feels like he's considering—” (—if this is weakness, opportunity, a chance to strike—)  

Moray teeth glint in the lowlight, peeking over a rarely upcurved lip. They swallow that trail-off with a succinctly says-nothing, significantly says-everything, “—Well.”  

( —you don’t show that so obviously if you don’t want it to be seen.) 

It’s one of his more exasperating traits, that tendency to forget that others might disagree on what’s unnecessary context. Just because his ‘business partners’ seem to have that strange telepathy of understanding going on doesn’t mean Yuu has it all figured out (yet)... 

“But, there’s no benefit to act,” he continues sedately, patiently, as if he’s simply explaining just another translated recipe or arcane algebra or social aggression to the poor, unfortunate otherworlder. (To pick a fight he can’t win… probably.) 

“So it's a… smile with teeth, but not. You know?” 

(Since if he really bares them, I can tear them out.) 

They nodded, decisive, seeming pleased at their bit of introspection so well voiced. The monotone of their register kicks up a notch. “Isn't that cute?"

…He means that sincerely.

Yuu blanches. Isn’t that totally the opposite of cute!? Well, maybe Lilia’s ‘cute’ wouldn’t disagree, but… I think that’s just your personal definition, though!? What exactly are you seeing in— nono, do I really want to know??

Sure enough, no Leech was really 'normal'...

  • and everything else you say about mor and ruggie makes a lot of sense and i would agree on many points! their interactions will definitely be fun to write in book 2. both parties being too wary for their own good when it comes to forming relationships... does prevent them from easily getting close though, i think; but otherwise, what you said is really interesting to think about for sure!! (so many possible misunderstandings, lol, which is admittedly one of the hallmarks of any intense relationship with mor!)

Crossfire12: what if Morgan got to interact with his own Tsum Tsum like the other students did during that event? I would love to see how a Tsum Tsum Morgan would behave lol

  • as one of the events which is way more about fun/vibes rather than worldbuilding, i didn’t dwell on it much lol. tbh i havent fully read the second tsum event yet, but from my memories of the first, i’d say that tsum!mor presents the same kind of ‘shocking personality juxtaposition’ as tsum!riddle does!
  • where the ‘true/baseline personality’ unfettered by Growing Up In A Society (With Extra Trauma) is much more carefree and open and ‘honest about desires’ than the nrc character parallel ends up. like, it’s a very similar case to riddle’s juxtaposition with his tsum (still sharing core values but much more mischievous), except mor is more… quietly kind of wistful about what could have been, rather than riddle’s sternness/embarrassment.
  • so yeah, mor’s ‘aloof/cold/indifferent’ image gets cracked a lot with tsum!mor wanting to lean on everyone and peek in on what anyone is doing and openly bring little gifts to anyone they like and be included and invited and praised always lol . and the inner overthinking/worrying/melodramatics get exposed a bit too in the tsum’s somehow terribly expressive dead blank eyes?? tsum!mor is both so much more ready to fight or cuddle at any moment than mor, lol.
  • mor doesn’t really know how to interact with his own tsum, and vice versa; they amiably prefer the company of other oct4 counterparts! (mor squishing the tsum!octatrio and tsum!mor bouncing around the regular octatrio)
  • (mor would be much more distressed and want to hide open-book tsum!mor away if there wasn’t such a ‘this is event canon only’ vibe lol; he's just chilling, teases yuu/Player in his voicelines about how well a marketable plushie of himself would sell)

Lavalamp24: For suggestions all I can really think of is rook and mor (sue me, they’re both characters I like and hitting them together like dolls is all I can think of). Stuff like sparring (helping mor get acclimated to a human body and able to go more all out cuz he’s against rook while rook can get a case study in mer combat styles)— (pt 1)

  • hmm,,,, something like sparring, i can see happening maybe later in mor's second year as their friendship settles and they'd trust rook enough to show him that side of them... having generally complicated feelings about their mafia training / self-defense / strength / bloodlust / inhumanity they're mostly at peace with by 17 but still don't like getting into with just anyone. i think where i can see it really coming up naturally (because he's still unlikely to propose it first and rook might suggest it but would go along with a deflection) is if they're in a vargas camp type of event and fooling around or!! whenever a chill moment after the point is in canon that the nrc cast finds out what rook's Sketchy AF Family *actually* does (if they ever find out lol). 
  • maybe near the end of the school year mor mentions he's always wanted to test himself against rook's combat skills actually ever since Understanding how much of a battle nut he is (and they do agree on the philosophy of Understanding someone by how they fight) and they make it a friend date before rook goes off into fourth year internships! and then spar again as a welcome thing when the fourth years return sporadically to campus between internships!
  • they r definitely texting so much while separated. mor wants to know ALL ABOUT ancient ruins and archaeology and rook is excellent at telling effusive and thrilling anecdotes involving unnerving implications abt danger! rook is happy to share details abt his studies and demand details in exchange abt mor's thesis progress and campus life! they're both people who tend to be close-lipped abt their personal lives but enthusiastic abt their passions or people in their lives, very good active listener exchange! rook and mor keep making increasingly seriously planned jokes about courtesy kidnapping each other to sightsee isolated dig sites on land and challenge lost trapped mage caves undersea!
  • mor sends a picture of zoomed-in grass to rook and he confidently identifies it as the leftmost field in the pomefiore gardens and rook sends a picture of an animated tomb guardian about to smash the camera and then doesnt reply for 4 hours while mor sends increasing strings of !?!?!?!?!! and also records all the spellscript he can see from the blurred pixels and translates them for fun. yuu gets a standing invitation to their show/movie/book club (often starring works with vil schoenheit or eric venue or the source material adapted into their films)! 
  • man i could go on abt this. rook's dialogue dramatics with mor's inner dialogue dramatics which become external dialogue dramatics when they let you in is so good-- i just need to study his lines more to get the right mix of french peppered in lol

Lavalamp24: The thing abt them texting??? Oh these NERDS I lob them. They’re both theatre students at heart and I love the home made geoguesser they got going on. Rook seems to be having a grand time being an intern, I can’t decide if I’d like an internship like that…either way it seems perfect for rook! (Can’t get my mind off Rook just bringing mor back a rock and mor is just ??? And it’s either like a puzzle box or a cool geode but that calls into question how Rook knew it was a geode and not a dud?? Ah. Rocks… and just anything you can bring back from sites, so really it’s Ah. Trinkets…(mor’s gonna need a vault just for random stuff Rook gives him))

  • YES mor is always on their phone and i think rook is familiar with all the tools of his hunt and in the digital age (of social media stalking) the phone is indispensable u know --> their quirkyass textlogs are a mine of potential meme templates. "theatre students at heart" SO REAL, NOBLE BELL COLLEGE MOR AND ROOK LITERALLY STARTED OFF CONNECTING OVER THEATER POSTING LOL
  • when i first learned that was his canonical book 7 stated internship interest i was like I Don't Know What Else I Expected But Somehow That's Both Surprising And Perfectly Fitting. (i expected like an investigative journalist for a legal career i guess LOL but archaeology cryptid really fits better) . like they emphasized in story that oh, ancient ruins don't *really* have such lost magic artifacts lying around nowadays etc., etc..... but u know rook is getting to Hijinks
  • PLSSSS mor is only a little disappointed it's not Cursed. he's so appreciative and pleased !!! trades rook the limited edition neige leblanche collab promotion items he missed that can't be bought easily (including the RSA campus event exclusives !!)

Lavalamp24: I NEED TO SEE THEM SPLUNKING IN UNDERWATER MAGICAL CAVES/DIG SITES. I think Rook would do well underwater and I also just wanna see them explore and have fun and just stare at stuff for a bit as a thousand thought go through their head and then they turn to each other and both start info dumping about what they’ve observed and it’s great and fun and they’re having too much fun and being too chill for how dangerous the setting is, but they’re too cool for school so everything works out for them look at em go. (Also ruins are cool and this is an excuse to make you world build a dungeon <3)

  • LOL ur evil (speaking to my worldbuilding weakness!!) --> it *would* be a great excuse to fit a lot more tropes/scenarios into one premise tho tbf 0v0 ...
  • everything you said in this paragraph is so perfect i have nothing to add really. mor does idly think a lot about whether a non-mer classmate would thrive as a mer and rook would definitely be excellent both underwater and in mer society. hunt some krakens hunt each other... ('v')b info dumping as love language is so real, i think having a friend with rook's personality is a good fit for getting mor out of his head some so they *can* achieve that 'too chill for danger' state of relaxed confidence lol

Lavalamp24: —or general cultural exchange (or the thing with like. Accidental courting stuff. If anyone’s the type to accidentally stumble into stuff like that just bc he’s weird, it’s rook methinks) (pt 2)

  • PLSSSSSS LOLLL its a fun trope fr and i think rook is both weird enough to get into it and then get the Curiosity To Learn More about it definitely and mor is definitely the type to respond really eagerly/open up to discussing/dissecting cultural/societal nuances through unconventional perspectives and especially on an interspecies level without actually internalizing it as directed as personal interest (and therefore not getting flustered/bewildered enough to close off. that could be an interesting shippy fluff drabble for sure
  • tbh in the fisherman!au aka the noble bell college au aka the mor-happening-into-french-pen-pals-with-rook-au i DID have a whole bit written up where rook once addresses mor as 'mon ami' and mor excitedly corrects him that actually its a common misconception/mistranslation to refer to friends that way, usually 'mon ami' in casual speech would imply a romantic partner instead, and then it became an in-joke that they keep referring to each other as that in letters anyway, to the point when mor accidentally refers to 'mon ami' in conversation with rollo and rollo misunderstands for a moment that mor is long distance dating ''someone who goes to another school' lol .
  • but yeah idk if u meant for this to be shippy at all but an accidental courting thing for metagame!au would be funny especially if its from an outsider pov like yuu and everyone gets in on the gossip bc theyre bored... ?? but maybe you'd be more interested in a mor or a octatrio or even a rook pov! --> it might be linked to the sparring drabble lol

Lavalamp24: Rollo’s misunderstanding (or is it ô.ō) is so funny cuz he meets Rook and finds out that Mor’s “partner” and starts to treat him that way…. He’s making these digs at Rook about being a good partner or communicating properly with your significant other and Rook is just confused and rollo is internally lamenting Mor’s taste. The look of horror on Mor’s face when rollo says “met your partner today. I’m not saying you could do better but-“.

  • LMAO fisherman!mor actually clears it up rather quick (hmm i do like fisherman!au much less than freshwater!au, maybe ill just give up and change to nbc!au to keep it short...) but that's a hilarious scenario for a branch off that au lol. moreso utter bafflement than horror (until the horror is 'realizing' 'wait have i been leading someone on??? am *I* the dense romantic interest in this campus genre isekai????') but rollo being Politely Rude At Every Opportunity and awkwardly/stiffly Attempting Social Communication of Investment is so good

Lavalamp24: This stuff can be shippy or just platonic, honestly I just want them to interact lol. An outsider pov may be fun for the sparring though (yuu is just on a stroll when Rook slams into a tree in front of them and they’re worried abt another overblot but here comes mor like oh hey, we’re sparring, do u need us to move? Or they both keep showing up late to stuff covered in bruises and yuu is raising a brow like what’s goin on ô.ó (could be a they-didn’t-know-they-were-dating thing there).

  • I FEEL THAT they contain multitudes . to us <33 --> sparring bloody and hunting each other for sport and healing/supporting each other ^v^ ^v^ avoiding being late by having the winner carry the loser to drop off at class/club/study group ('v')b ('v')b yuu accidentally well-intentionedly starting rumors OvO OvO

purplelarks: does mor still room with floyd and jade in nrc? or does he room with someone else? i really love the mental imagery of baby threels curling up together when they sleep in their bed, but i imagine that it would probably be hard for them to do that now that they're grown and huge by human standards. 

  • i actually have so many accumulated design notes abt mor's nrc room decor and how it looks like by year 2; year 2, mor will have their own room!! although floyd and jade are over so often it doesn't really matter. the beds are too small yeah; thats okay tho, they can still nest in the dorm mini-ocean (?) (it's hard to tell how big the ocean is in that mini-dimension the dorm is in) sands and crevices (even though it's considered kind of childish if mer can't sleep like humans should after graduating land training). and you bet they're shoving each other and flopping over each other to make space on that couch in azul's office
  • mor has no roommate; canonically, second year dorms are meant for 2 ppl, but also canonically, octavinelle dorm has empty dorm rooms they rent out, so clearly you can have your own room if you pay the price/cut a deal. one bed is his, and the other bed kind of is set up as a guest hangout/study 'couch' complete with a snack shelf (similar to floyd's, but organized neatly as jade's terrariums).
  • i won't go into too much detail about the room decor itself, but there's lots of soft 'land-only' textures like rugs and pillows, different lights (string lights, crystal ball lamp, lamps from other dorms purchased via sam's mystery shop stock, etc.), and mor's bed is converted into a canopy bed with black-frilled dark teal drapes that kind of look like eel tails.
  • last note on rooms: that's all year 2 stuff. for year 1... mor starts off w at least one roommate, same as anyone else (it's implied first years all have quad rooms, but again, octavinelle seems to have many empty rooms which suggests many possibilities...), but we'll see how that evolves (or not) as we get to book 2 voting choices lol.

Lavalamp24: You mentioned Mor thinking Mama Leech would look killer in a big coat, and we know Mor’s good with fashion in general, so I wanted to ask if Mor would be the one in charge of fashion in the group? Especially once they hit NRC. Mor’s got both taste and knowledge, plus I think it’d be fun for Mor and maybe help the others settle a bit :3 (and a possible conversation topic w Pomefiore? You can never have enough of those) 

  • yuu tells metagame!mor their sense of fashion is good and he blinks and goes, "oh... that's just from thinking about character design. but thanks." ('v')b
  • BUT SERIOUSLY i love this comment/question omg, and i love x2 that u remember the 'killer in a big coat' thought. listen, when ur raised by fashionable mob bosses u may as well reinvest some of that blood money into whatever u wanna wear <3 i think mor also would just really like supporting/appreciating land artisans; they would thrift more instead of being bougie tailored if the isle of sages wasn't always out of his tallass size smh u-u
  • calling morgan in charge of something is always up for a debate lol. hmm, i'm assuming by 'in the group' you mean oct4? i think we could explore that in ddb book 1, how mor's actually more out of touch than he expects after 16 years away and also all his experience from a different world lol; but to answer the actual question, for metagame!au where they're already in nrc year 2, i'd say that by then each member of oct4 has had their share of dressing up and critiquing each other lol.
  • azul would definitely have done so much research into his first week fits before even entering the carriage; he canonically only started wearing glasses on land to look smarter and more sophisticated!! (i dont remember if he actually needs them at all though). and floyd canonically has a lot of fun experimenting with land fashion and buys merch/accessories for the others sometimes (like a ridiculously cutesy eel bag), and jade canonically has a rather selective taste in stuff that 'blends into the background' (and maybe appreciates outdoorsy practicality).
  • morgan would probably be doing a lot of experimenting with floyd; and at the end of the day, their preferences i would say touch on all three of the others' styles. so i wouldn't say 'in charge of' anything, but they definitely trust each other to give (serious and unserious) feedback on presentation, and maybe they even gift or share things between each other. (mor buys oversized things already lol so actual clothing ends up comically oversized on the others.) and metagame!mor canonically likes gifting things :>
  • metagame!mor is also intimidated by the seriousness of pomefiore LOL they wouldn't feel prepared for a fashion discussion (but to particular members on a 1:1 maybe they could have fun casually chatting! rook. i mean rook lol. omg rook and mor would absolutely fan-discuss vil's fashion)

Lavalamp24: *I turn to look at you, my eyes bloodshot* Thrifting…thrifting w the gworls…. Wonder what their thrift styles are, Azul def goes in with a plan, and I bet he’s got an eye for objects everyone dismissed, but are actually rly valuable. Ooo speaking of good spotters: Rook again!! He’s got those eyes of his, nothing designer or collectible is escaping him!! He’s like those girls you spot in thrift stores where after you see them you just pack up and leave cuz you Know Nothing will be left in the wake of their skills. 

Also Mor being out of touch *is* fashionable, I’d say he’s vintage, but fairytales kinda cover that hmmm, whatever it is, he’s got years of refining taste (rusty tho it may be, and that’s worth something!! (Probably)). I’m rly happy for your focus on fashion and beauty in this story, Ik it’s probably easier to do with how much TWST canon focuses on each character’s beauty, but it still makes me veeeery happy <3

  • LMAO thank u for the thrift headcanons omg i totally agree, azul is here for $$ and rook is here for Hunting ('v')b they should work together tbh lol bc i dont think rook would necessarily care/want to buy up the finds; just appreciate them and if anything encourage others to buy them to enhance their personal beauty etc etc
  • aww thank you!! yeah definitely encountered it a lot when researching canon twst notes for effective character interpretation, but also im a very descriptive writer and mor's a very detail-attuned perspective, so it naturally does come up (im a big believer in fleshing out many aspects of a culture to make it feel alive and fashion is always a big one that reflects how ppl live and work and play etc.!!)

Pink_Paradox: I also wonder what would happen if NRC aged Morgan got sick. I imagine him as the type to get really clingy when he's not feeling good even when he's older, so whenever he's not resting he's lounging around the Octotrio and constantly leaning over their shoulders or splayed against their backs. Floyd has a much higher tolerance for this behavior than Jade does and Azul is indifferent as long as it's not happening in sight of customers, so Morgan just kind of rotates around between the three of them looking all wilted and sickly.

  • hmm i think ur absolutely right in ur clingy interpretation tho!! (especially with the subconscious anxiety of 'i am weak now --> i cannot protect loved ones as effectively --> where are loved ones i need to keep an eye on them so i'm not totally useless if any danger occurs--!')
  • though whether sick!mor is actually shameless/unselfconscious/impulsive enough to follow through with the clinginess in public is a different matter; their public persona to most of nrc is deliberately quite aloof and intimidating, and as we all know mor is quite capable in the 'denying himself simple happiness' department, so it's quite possible they also just end up holed inside room + doesn't want anyone else to see him sick + wants to be w octatrio but doesn't want to hold them back from normal routine to accompany them because they aren't like, y'know, *dying*.
  • so i think it wouldn't be like, dramatic around the clock, but ocatrio *would* actively seek out mor in their room and be soft w him lol. and/or like convince mor to rest in azul's office with no other visitors taken so they all just converge there lol. agree that floyd has higher tolerance for like, cuddling than jade, but I think mor's physical and mental state of being sick is unusual enough that like, the brothers are especially interested in observing this novel weakness and the novelty of acting like the ones comforting/caring for mor when usually the dynamic is flipped (by mor's own will)? like it's a weird kind of soft for them
  • azul is the most normal abt all of this of course lol; but he's already comparatively quite indulgent to mor on a regular basis (since mor is so preferential to him, too)

Pink_Paradox: I also think that Jade and Floyd would take advantage of Morgan not observing them as closely to let loose on the other students a little since he's not there to disapprove. Morgan catches on of course, but since he really doesn't feel up to being strict he just asks them not to kill or maim anyone.

(Ace, observing: That's seriously all you're gonna ask of them?

Floyd, looking sulky: Awwww, that's no fun. Can we maybe maim 'em just a bit?

Ace: You're still gonna ask for less restrictions than that??)

  • lol this is also true enough, esp. if mor being sick actually puts the tweels in a more bored/negative mood than usual that they want to take out on others, rather than a novelty/interested mood to focus on mor. i do think it depends what version of nrc!mor this is, though; for example, metagame!mor already doesn't lift a finger or speak a word to restrain brothers from messing w classmates, but it's still possible for ddb!mor to develop a more proactively restraining personality... in which case that line abt just not killing or maiming anyone is very in character with an exhausted sigh lol
  • laughed at the ace skit. him being voice of Normal Reason is always hilarious when he so clearly wants to be the comedic character

Tomik0: i love the voicelines! morgan is so sweet to yuu i love them 🥹 i wonder how would he interact with yuu if they had a language barrier? like with the common language of twstland being japanese but yuu can only speak english. would morgan finally put his english knowledge to use? (if he still even remembers it?)

  • nrc!mor has been Repressing The Sweetness or rather, they have a very limited pool of acceptable 'targets' to be sweet to, so yuu gets the overflow + the genuine true comradeship of being isekai victims <3
  • ooh hmm well the english knowledge will continue to be useful in a limited context throughout ddb too, because it's so magically important / treated as 'magic latin' kind of, and we'll be exploring how UMs always have an instinctively known english name... but yup, even in ddb it's unusual/heavily impractical to be a fluent speaker. so yuu would be the first person morgan meets where it's practical, if we're assuming that the novel!canon translation spells don't exist in this 'what if'.
  • i think mor would have some reservations about revealing he has this (rusty, but clearly still fluent and even specifically-accented) fluency in english if it was anyone except yuu. but yuu's 'Otherworlder Buddy' status serves to break into another exception here; mor will easily prioritize yuu's comfort/communication over the possible risk of questions he doesn't want to answer.
  • though, they'd still probably tell yuu (honestly) that they're just a magic nerd who finds english really useful for studying spellcrafting, and that it's very rare to find people who know more than a few words of english (from popular media's depiction of UMs, probably). and just avoid the question/suspicion of 'are you not from this world'. --> would strive to teach yuu as much 'Common' (fantasy japanese) as soon as possible, to empower yuu's agency, and also conveniently be able to limit the amount of spoken english Mor does while maximizing the amount of listening english he does.

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AU Highlights from Reader Comments Which Are Distinct Enough from Metagame!AU:

YotasukeFavCanvas: reading this make me starts to wonder some stuff y'know? Like how would Jade and Floyd, when they grew up and eventually have a distinctive personality from the 7habits would act when Mor have his occasional mental breakdown? Assuming that he is more emotional (and aloof???) in a way. Or the one who think a bit too much for his already terrible mental state, (I can relate to him for a lot of reason so that's why I can see him having occasional mental breakdown, though he would try his best to hide it from Jade and Floyd, I think) and seeing that he already have several one already throughout the 15 chapters you've released! It was just, I think Mor is such a realistic and the closest character to my heart so I keep on wondering about a lot of possibility!

  • hmmm thats one of those questions where an answer doesnt immediately come to mind, bc i think it's so context dependent and also bc i,,, totally agree mor would try his absolute best to hide the worst of whatever he's feeling, which makes it harder to think abt. theyre so repressed and weird abt being perceived and upkeeping certain roles or images they hold to others that they would hate so much for their siblings to notice and 'make a big deal' about them... and jade and floyd would understand that, and it would be so deeply weird for them too. arc 3 and 4 are going to navigate more into the emotional complexities and how the threels emotionally navigate/support/work with each other, as floyd and jade themselves start growing more emotionally aware and developed.
  • as u said, he had several already through those 15 chapters, and to be fair, while the tweels are instinctive, observant, and familiar enough to understand when mor's acting strangely... they don't rly talk abt it, they attempt to distract mor at best or just wait it out at worst, usually some mix with clinginess thrown in. ...i think that's the dynamic that would likely persist, tbh, especially as the tweels are themselves really quite mentally and emotionally stable, so they don't rly have breakdowns that mor reacts to, and they take so many learned behavior cues from mor honestly.
  • i think they would react similarly to how azul's overblot breakdown went, tbh, except relatively (awkwardly) gentler and more open about how concerned and relieved they are, since they know mor likes to see that?
  • well, maybe we'll have an opportunity to see how that plays out in ddb! depending on reader vote <3 though i did promise* that mor's over the worst of the terrible mental health arcs now lol

[extended for this posting] *promises are subjective (^v^)b 

 

YotasukeFavCanvas: hhh I see where you're coming from! It is true that throughout most of the story that the tweels often learn a lot of things from Mor the most, it's nostalgic to think about how they all started, like in the first 5 chapters(??) where's Mor literally just tell them about fairytales back when they're still just small little things. Or when they have no idea why Mor want to save his friend back then either. The more animalistic part of the tweels behavior and Mor's more human's feeling really did send me chills sometimes too haha.. ╯∀╰

The thoughts of Mor being a bit sulkier and quieter than usual and the tweels just pressed him in between them is hilarious too LMAO and maybe Azul shrugging while looking at more, not really bothered and just thinking stuff like "sigh, he's in his period again". WWWWW thinking about them growing up is honestly the most hilarious part

  • <33 im very glad that contrast gave you chills and that its clear how much mor is (mostly) unintentionally influencing the tweels (and vice versa)!! its a compliment to me achieving my emotional effect goals haha, thank you
  • YEAH lol and depending on azul and mor's bond in that timeline, it's entirely possible azul is also right there trying to fuss over mor lol
  • yayy stay tuned for arc 3 and 4 growing up :>> the focus is on mor but we'll definitely be seeing a lot of character growth of the rest of oct4 through their eyes!

Pink_Paradox: As for AUs, I'm curious if you have any thoughts about a Morgan who ends up going to RSA? Obviously this is extremely unlikely to happen since he's so close to Jade, Floyd, and Azul but it's interesting to imagine. He would probably be really uncomfortable at first surrounded by so many "hero" types, but maybe he would eventually get to relax a little when he's not in an environment that's constantly cutthroat? Or maybe he'd just stress more since he's not able to keep an eye on his boys, lol. He'd probably be sending them text messages every other day reminding them to behave and take care of themselves, and sending a care package over every week full of treats.

  • lol this RSA!mor question has been asked before but i see it as a wonderful compliment that mor inspires such 'natural conclusion' thoughts! here's the comment thread if you'd like to see that reply: (i may have also addressed it / added more details elsewhere but i forgor/can't find it if so lol) https://archiveofourown.to/comments/771920404
  • yup, this is extremely unlikely if they follow the trajectory that ddb!morgan has/is going to take, up until school invitation. i think it's definitely possible for a morgan who has this other-life memory to end up being picked for and going to rsa, but the likelihood differs depending on all these different choice-paths/'routes'; and the 'true heir' route that has been voted into ddb canon is one of the least likely ones. totally agree it's interesting to imagine though!! just, personally, with the way i kind of think about 'academy age ddb morgan' and the ambiguity of what their ultimate character/realtionships will end up being (depending on reader votes), it's a bit more difficult and less interesting for me to imagine rsa!ddb!mor (as opposed to rsa! being stacked onto a mor who is already an au and who i therefore have total control/assumption over understanding their set personality/circumstances), if that makes sense
  • so for example... running your musings through my brain to check against 'what would metagame!mor do if he actually went to rsa instead (bc he didn't get an nrc invite, and figured rsa was still prestigious (and close enough to brothers + azul)', happy to say ur toally right abt their initial discomfort turning into softening barriers over time! i think the triplets would figure out their own ways of keeping an eye on each other enough; i think that mor would actually be more passive and respond to texts quickly as they come in, but not really be the one sending them (or care packages), since he doesn't actually believe in holding himself accountable to their brothers' actions. maybe there's a relief in that kind of space to Be Himself in rsa, rather than the mixed annoyance/satisfaction of being seen as 'part of a set' that they're used to? 
  • (but mor would still feel obliged to Say Something if he's aware, so i think what works out is actually a mutually aware satisfied balance of deliberate ignorance, where both sides are very selective in what they tell the other abt their respective separated school/daily experiences. (though, azul can't resist bragging abt his achievements (ignore the morally dubious means) and the tweels have a Different filter of socially acceptable even before it comes to mor being their blood-brethren confidante.)
  • i think they'd spend a lot of time hanging out on weekends etc. in the sage isle town and beaches (and sneaking each other into each others' campuses) --> they don't need care packages when jade and floyd can just come encroach on mor's personal space in person and demand treats lol. mor's brothers aren't actually that interested in rsa but azul Thrives in seeing so much Opportunity to profit off having this exclusive 'in' to RSA through mor; for example, he always knows what rsa festival booths r gonna be selling or what rsa events are coming up so he can theme his business endeavors accordingly lol

 

[extended for this posting] i don’t remember if i’ve said this anywhere else, but “no memory / what-if triplet / 'som'” au has an nrc and a rsa ending, and i’m inclined to explore the rsa ending as ‘canon’. but that’s just not a ‘morgan’, so it wouldn’t count as a rsa!mor lol because som is such a fundamentally different (though in some ways, fundamentally the same) character without past life memories. 

  • (i’m not set on ‘som’ btw, might go with another name. som is for a three-letter one-syllable name that fits with jade and floyd’s four-five-letter one-syllable names, with a sleep association (from ‘somnus’ latin word that a lot of sleep-related words derive from, like somnolescence), and an obscure crystal ball association and sea association (som means ‘moon’ which is… a big white glowy ball and controls tides??). feel free to give your thoughts lol

 

Pink_Paradox: If Morgan isn't at NRC I'd imagine most of the events would play out basically the same as they do in canon, with Morgan showing up once or twice as a side character or as a background detail in story vignettes (kind of like Chenya). He'd eventually make an onscreen appearance in book 3, maybe at the end like Cheka does in book 2 to fuss over Azul after he overblotted. He'd also be the "guide" character for Jade and Floyd's special character focused event in the same vein as Eric Venue and Kifaji/Neji. Maybe their family is holding a gala and they were told to invite a few of their classmates? Yuu and Grim would be a given, but I'm not sure who the other characters would end up being! Azul feels too obvious, maybe he has an important business opportunity elsewhere that prevents him from attending. XD

  • great guess and absolutely spot on !! in au's where morgan actually doesn't go to land academy at all (and thus, still doesn't go to nrc) that's pretty much the default 'timeline of appearanaces' for him lol. (and often times whenever the canon characters meet morgan they're like,,,, Damn, there's more of u??? --> b/c i think the tweels would find it hilarious to Never Mention They're Triplets (but just vaguely imply they have an Older Sibling at most) and i think azul is private enough In General that he'd just discuss mor (like, active correspondence) within the octatrio anyway)
  • though, it's also possible that rsa!mor is physically close enough to actually get alerted to + be involved in the events of Book Three... but i don't actually have more thoughts abt that rn lol and i think for the most part, given the 'i have it all under control' attitude of azul + tweels in book three, rsa!mor wouldn't hear/know anything abt anything unusual until it's too late lol (since i think azul literally would not have overblotted without so many contracts being destroyed at once)

 

Notes:

next (ambitious) update in this au sidestory: ART and DESIGN NOTES ~!!
- a style guide to drawing metagame!mor, and explaining the differences between prototype!mor, metagame!mor, and the unrealized nrc!ddb!mor
- metagame!mor: sketches, let's see how many i actually get through
* mostro lounge (cooking, serving)
* dorm uniform (intimidation, casual)
* school uniform (reference)
* playful land event wear
* expressions comparison
* lost in the book w/ stitch event wear
* sleepwear / getting ready in the morning SSR
* mor's room sketch and notes

Chapter 4: 'artbook': [the definitive (for now) morgan leech style guide] + dorm uniform metagame!mor

Notes:

EDIT 1/26: SORRY I FORGOT MY OWN DESIGN NOTES,,,,,, THE LEECH THREELS KEEP ONLY THE ORIGINAL 6 SCALES BETWEEN THEM,,, SO MOR ONLY HAS ONE ON EACH EAR AND FLOYD AND JADE EACH ONLY HAVE 2,,, may or may not edit this chapter's art at some point

Chapter Text

・。゚

[INTRO]

i’ve been requested for tips on drawing morgan, and my most important tip is: follow the morgan in your heart, know that any morgan you draw Is A Correct And Beloved Morgan! i am The AU Lover anyway, and am loathe to even call ddb!mor ‘the canon’; they’re kind of just another AU to me haha, just one that’s still developing

but i was already in the middle of working on this style guide when i was asked this— because i was increasingly bothered by how much my own style fluctuates in drawing him, and also wanted to refresh/update how i thought of their design anyway to match my current style.

so please enjoy the following style guide which i’ll be following myself but which is only intended to be a totally optional helpful reference otherwise! 

note: because ddb!mor still has to finish arc 3 and arc 4 before we get to nrc, their characterization can still change a lot. so the style guide below is technically for only metagame!mor— but metagame!mor has always been the visual placeholder for ddb!mor in nrc, so, just keep that in mind. 

・。゚

[OVERALL]

facial features and overall body and coloring looks like jade and floyd

* human body is slightly taller and maybe broader frame from self defense training, 

* merfolk body is at least a third longer 

* i just colorpick my flat colors from official game art lol since colors rly aren’t my strong suit anyway

* if not wearing gloves, may or may not have pointed nails, may or may not have painted nails

* mouth expressions tend to be smaller/closed compared to triplets; shows the least teeth, and may reflexively raise hand as if to hide mouth/teeth when unintentionally expressing more than they want

  • → when (rarely) smiling in public tends to only show a slight flash of teeth in a mostly-close-lipped smile. does not look like any of octaquartet
  • → smiles in private are way more common and wide and have more range from close-mouthed to showing all teeth. can have smiles that look very similar to any of octaquartet

* tip: very convenient to refer to official art of tweels!

overall, incorporate 'round circle' lines/shapes in reference to the crystal ball inspiration; and incorporate 'balanced/flat' feeling to combine/contrast/complete design with threels or with octaquartet 

Example: manga reference pages for jade and floyd being referenced for dorm uniform mor 

・。゚

[EYES]

eyes are a balance of jade 'up' and floyd 'down' curves

* upper eyeline goes up-then-down from inside-out. has the strong potential for both very expressive eyes and very unreadable eyes 

  • → normally (i.e. in ‘public face’ mask) upper eyeline 'sharpens/flattens' for contrast with half-lidded eyes (which looks more like jade)
  • → when extra expressive (i.e. strong emotions in public, or in ‘private/comfort’ i.e. with oct4), upper eyeline 'rounds' (which looks more like floyd) and the curves become more obvious, including end-lash pointing up more
  • → eyes underwater default to ‘extra expressive’ (because is naturally adapted to taking in more information in dark + eye expression is far less significant to merfolk who rely on sight less)

* lower eyeline also goes more ‘flat’ or more ‘round, but always curves slightly up-then-down from outside-in (though for more stylization feel free to just round it, that’s what i did for chibi) 

  • → three undereye prominent lashes (can be very stylized or can be almost ignored, depends on your style)
  • → slight(?) eyebags (doesn't usually bother with concealer, but would wear in special occasions if you would like to draw without)

* 'front' and 'back' lashes point down in contrast with rest of octaquartet, gives more 'uninvolved' feeling instead of active/alert/aggressive upwards end-lashes that they all share

  • → mor still has that upwards end-lash (triplets), but it’s a very gentle curve and can even disappear into the ‘flat’ line 

* (i’m holding room for the potential for their yet-undecided to-be-voted Unique Magic to, when casting, have a cosmetic tell in the eyes) 

* tip: to have mor’s eyes look more like the tweels, choose iris placement such that the central pupil ends up either at the upper or lower eyeline. this gives an intimidating factor the triplets typically have (because they’re typically all literally looking down on you with their height)

 

Behind The Scenes: eye sketchpage of my eye shape iteration/ideation, this is less than a quarter of all the eyes i went through. 

history of eye development:

original draft design for mor had a ‘wide-eyed, staring into your soul, eerie/discomfiting’ eyes concept, and very round shape from crystal ball inspo, and very pronounced ‘up-down-up’ curves meant to combine/contrast his triplets. but then i would also draw them with a very half-lidded ‘intimidating’ look that didn’t actually work well with the very round eye shape. unfortunately over time i felt this ended up giving them too ‘soft’ + too inconsistent of a look, and also made them not really look like they fit with triplets or oct4 designs. 

maybe if i leaned into the creepy factor more… but that didn’t feel like what ‘highly aware of how they’re perceived’ mor would be doing. he would want ‘don’t bother me’ but also ‘don’t look down on me (i.e. the leeches or oct4 associates)’. also i felt like the very open/round shape was contradicting the ‘i’m looking away / masking to protect self / big gap between external and internal’ core of metagame!mor’s character (which is a core that’s been influenced by how i think ddb!mor will end up being like in nrc). 

in summary: i still like a lot of my previous art!! it just was becoming outdated for the version of mor that "the devil and the deep blue" series was developing into. 

so metagame!mor (which is the placeholder ddb!nrc!mor) now has a ‘half-lidded, looking right through you, cold/indifferent’ eyes concept— but still has the potential for pretty expressive/emotional eyes depending on the situation. 

process: (i read all of the translated octavinelle manga out thus far to stare at how the artist drew the tweels and azul's face and eyes and then i went and drew SO many eye shapes to decide on Mor's Distinctive Eye Shape)

・。゚

[HAIR]

triplets have same hair texture-wise and color-wise, but acts different due to length 

* black ‘bangs’ are always growing from front-and-center of hairline

* overall length is below shoulders but above knees on land (but otherwise, however long you want it to be for your art style / concept)

  • → can grow shorter/longer in water at will

* defaults to a center part, because this works best with their design concept of ‘balancing’ the threels (but is not opposed to changing this!)

* design concept: human defaults to black bangs frame or fall somewhat in front of eyes to highlight eyes, with teal hair sleekly obeying gravity like a ‘waterfall’; hair behind ears ; merform defaults to have black bangs lifting above head / away from face and teal hair spreading out behind like ‘fan’ or ‘jaws’; hair in front of earfins

  • → gold eyes glowing past black strands is something that can happen on purpose or when emotional. glows extra noticeably in the dark undersea 

* otherwise, specific haircut and style is entirely up to your art choice! 

  • → a lot of freedom to interpret here, as long as it makes sense for the specific situation. for example, mor usually dislikes too-tight hair, and thus avoids high ponytails, but would be fine with picking that for flying class or a formal/special occasion to definitely keep hair out of his face and to have a sharper profile. but they can also use magic to manipulate hair normally to keep out of their face if they want, so him leaving loose hair alone is a cue of indifference, and/or a stylistic choice. very loose hair can mean a relaxed or angry mor— unrestricted, emotive. tightly bound hair usually means a tightly controlled mor or a particular image being presented, which can be ‘sophisticated’ or ‘aggressive’, etc.
  • → i personally favor ‘mostly all the same length’ + ‘hair tucked behind ears’ because i think that simplicity would probably be mor’s first instinct when growing it out
  • → but mor can justify pretty much any haircut you’d want to dress him up in, and definitely enjoys changing up styles.
  • → some recurring hairstyle: totally loose; half-up half-down; low/high ponytail; low bun; braid (good magic control exercise and threels like braiding it)
  • → some common hair accessories: ribbons, hair claw, hair stick, hair tie

* due to long hair, gravity on land will naturally drag down the Leech ‘smooth/straight/defined’ strands and smooth it out. (and floyd and jade have choppier/uneven/layered strands anyway, which will stick out differently from skull.) and if merfolk have very moisturized skin in human form, i think their hair would also be very hydrated. 

  • → so i tend to draw mor’s hair with very flowing/clean lines (because this also conveniently ties into ‘water/wave’ imagery; fanned out’ flow or ‘single movement’ flow, like a wave crashing vs a river streaming) with some loose strands because of gravity/length. 
  • → i also tend to use mor’s hair ‘state’ (straight/settled or rising/grasping) as a visual indicator of emotional state, but this can be either all stylization or interpreted as them (sub?)consciously manipulating their hair with magic as human (since it’s definitely how it works in merform)
  • → (sometimes this means i think it looks too ‘silky/soft’ compared to Leeches and i need to lean into ‘wilder/sharper’. but the specific texture of their hair seems to vary depending on what canon refs you’re looking at anyway, so it’s just self-critique lol)

tip: to have mor’s hair look more like the tweels, add a few loose/sharp/shorter strands from the top of his head to break up the overall shape/silhouette of hair. add more with loose hair and feel free to leave them out with pulled-back hairstyles. 

 

history of hair development:

nobody pointed it out ever, but it's eternally bothered me that in early mor refs i have the two black strands sticking more out of the center of the head, like the tweels, but in later refs i move it tp be the front/bangs. what is the truth????? 

  • → in making this style guide, i decided the truth is that the black strands are the front bangs, because that looks better in most long hair styles and gives mor their own distinct charm point. retconning the ‘center’ strands now lol

・。゚

[FASHION]

feel free to dress up mor as you’d like!! some guidelines/inspiration: 

the earrings: the threels keep the original 6 scales of the tweels -> so mor has one on each ear for 2 in total, and floyd and jade keep their original ear placements but only have 2 scales each

* style is pretty flexible and depends a lot on situation. leans towards subdued and solid colors like jade— but also has room for whimsy and experimentation like floyd. has an interest in thrift, small artisan work, and the blood money for whatever tailoring needed to fit him

  • → default style: dark academia, straight/blocky silhouette (i.e. jacket off the shoulders) and oversized+layers style (all of which contributes to making him look simultaneously ‘cooler’ and also ‘cuter’ lol) 
  • → casual/other style: comfy, flowy, really varied/experimental, wide-leg/loose bottoms
  • → ‘fancy’ style: flowy sleeves+aristocratic (still has blocky top silhouette but has more tightness in design such as high-waisted pants or fitted cuffs/neck, because associates this style with performing a specific version of morgan leech) 

* mor overall dislikes tight clothes and is sensitive to things around neck, which floyd canonically shares and i believe jade’s commented on needing to adjust to as humans. 

  • → will compromise for uniforms and is fine if neckthing is soft, so i think they’d be fine with neckwear (scarves, etc.) but not really wear necklaces 

* favorite jewelry is rings, doesn’t really wear any bracelet other than pearl bracelet

  • → haven’t decided whether nrc!mor actually wears different earrings regularly, or if he would feel weird taking off that visual symbol for threels (the sturgeon scale earrings) and thus saves other earrings for only special occasions out of school. but feel free to draw them with different earrings (and/or more piercings i guess lol), i draw outfits without explaining sometimes 

* tends to avoid heels/platforms/high shoes despite liking the look, because it’s already awkward towering over most people normally; doesn’t want to introduce more distance, usually. 

  • → exceptions: if dressing to emphasize power/distance, or if floyd dares to finally catch up or sevens forbid surpass in height (floyd is the one canonically implied to keep growing taller than jade despite starting off in nrc first-year as shorter) 

* rarely wears hats, doesn’t like how it feels like it could fall off or how it messes up hair. if wearing a hat, probably prefers wide brim hats for extra shadowing. 

  • → if a hat is mandatory for mostro lounge uniform, then azul gave them a tacit exception lol 

* default glasses have very circular frames (crystal ball etc.), and black lenses to block out eyes (as a visual shield/wall from world) 

  • → default black glasses are actually prescription but i’m sure if he feels like it, he wears non-prescription fashion glasses too and just uses a vision potion or spell to compensate (or just decides doesn’t need human vision that much) 
  • → taking off glasses or having gold eyes glow past the black lenses is common when anticipating a fight, deliberately intimidating, genuinely angry, or whatever other change from default 

* some common accessory motifs are: white circle (bead, pearl, crystal ball, pompom, dots), ‘twin-tail’ like merform tailfin, three-spike shape like merform earfin, bow, fishbone, merform frill, octavinelle colors, teal/black/gold Leech colors

  • → keep an eye out for upcoming art/sketches for the 'cozy in room' birthday SSR morgan card, which will show some visual examples of what i mean!

Dorm Uniform Mor Reference Page + Eyes + Candy + Coffin

design points:

 

  • rarely wears hat unless there’s a need to keep up appearances for something.
  • the hypothetical SSR card has loose hair and no glasses, because that’s the most intimidating look for mor and what i imagine them looking like if/when participating in azul’s shadier business. 
  • in azul’s SSR groovy i think mor would fit (hat on, jacket over shoulders) as the one looming over / guarding the back (maybe i’ll sketch it later)
  • however i think for actually working in the mostro lounge (which is the other time they’d have to wear the dorm uniform), he may keep loose hair, but also may switch it up especially if cooking instead of serving. 
  • i think the glasses stay off though + his default expression is a bit more neutral rather than annoyed, because he doesn’t want to affect azul’s business.

 

Chapter 5: 'artbook': metagame!mor school uniform

Summary:

posting at a suboptimal midweek time bc i love you

next art update is either more variations on nrc school uniform mor + more nrc oct4 memes, which would be here

OR we're returning to the canon sidestory for an 'artbook' sketch study of the mermaid fin SSR cards + more 7habits arcs 1-3(+4?) doodle memes <3

please comment <33333 would u roll morgan leech's gachas??? i heard they have the highest number of card alt looks for toggling glasses on/off...

Notes:

EDIT 1/26: SORRY I FORGOT MY OWN DESIGN NOTES,,,,,, THE LEECH THREELS KEEP ONLY THE ORIGINAL 6 SCALES BETWEEN THEM,,, SO MOR ONLY HAS ONE ON EACH EAR AND FLOYD AND JADE EACH ONLY HAVE 2,,, may or may not edit this chapter's art at some point

Chapter Text

Chapter 6: 'artbook': metagame!mor alt outfits + oct4 smile comparison

Notes:

EDIT 1/26: SORRY I FORGOT MY OWN DESIGN NOTES,,,,,, THE LEECH THREELS KEEP ONLY THE ORIGINAL 6 SCALES BETWEEN THEM,,, SO MOR ONLY HAS ONE ON EACH EAR AND FLOYD AND JADE EACH ONLY HAVE 2,,, will edit this chapter's art at some point

comments cast a deeply moving ritual of motivation upon me <333 will try to do some c19 writing tmrw,,,,

Chapter Text

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