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...if someone is born from a dream, does that make their life any less real...?

Long, long ago, the Moon Princess was exiled as punishment.

She lived among the mortals. Growing up with a family that loved her, forming friendships, experiencing the joys and sorrows of life. That she grows to think of this world as home. But when her punishment ends, celestial messengers come to take her home. In doing so, they cleanse her of mortal impurities. And while they took her memories, her body remembers the emotions.

She returns to home exactly as everyone expected. But something has changed. She longs for a place she cannot remember. Years turn into centuries. The weight of the ache inside her becomes unbearable. She grows quieter and quieter until she eventually falls into slumber to soothe an ache she knows not how to heal. And in that sleep, she dreams. Of a life where she could simply belong. The warmth of an embrace. Of sunshine pressing heat into her skin. The fragrance of flowers heavy in the air.

It was meant to be a perfect fantasy. An ordinary life with a happy childhood, a loving family, and a place of warmth she could always return to.

But dreams are born from the hearts that carry them.

Though the Moon Princess no longer carried the memories of the past, it did not erase the feelings it left behind. And so the dream inherited them in her place. Her loneliness. Her yearning for a home she could no longer remember. The quiet ache of searching for something just beyond reach. The fear of never truly belonging.

Until, somewhere between wish and memory, dream and reality, it no longer became just a dream.

It became a person.

Yuuri was everything the Moon Princess was not.

One returned to a home that no longer felt like home. The other was born into a world that never truly welcomed her. One spent centuries yearning for a place she could no longer remember. The other spent her life searching for a place where she could finally belong.

The Moon Princess dreamed of a life untouched by duty—a life where she could laugh, cry, stumble, and love as nothing more than an ordinary girl. But perfection was never what gave that life meaning. Instead, the dream became beautifully, irrevocably human.

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Yuuri was meant to live an ordinary life.

That was the wish that gave her form. She was meant to know the simple happiness of an unremarkable childhood, to grow up surrounded by the warmth family, and the familiarity of home. Instead, she was born with features that unmistakably marked her as different from her family and people around her.

Childhood quickly became defined by quiet cruelties.

Parents would steer their children away from her. Children would learn to avoid her or treat her with the same wariness their parents showed to her. Neighbors lowered their voices to whisper incessantly when she passed. Teachers watched her a little too closely. Every smile carried hesitation, every kindness an uncomfortable distance.

Even within her own home, the strain began to show. Her parents loved her. She could not doubt that. But there was always the lingering feeling that she was like a puzzle piece that did not belong. Eventually, they made a choice. To dye her pale moonlight hair beneath ink black dye. Hoping that if she looked like everyone else, she could finally fit in.

For a while, it seemed to work. The open hostility faded. Conversations no longer stopped the moment she walked into a room. At first glance, Yuuri looked no different from anyone else. But the whispers never truly disappeared. Nor did the uneasy glances cast toward her family or the lingering feeling that she was only welcome because (she never really belonged) no one knew who she really was.

And then, Yuuri cut her own hair. If everyone insisted that her appearance (it was just her) was the reason she was unwanted, maybe changing it would finally make a difference.

But It didn't. Nothing changed.

In the end, the only thing her parents could offer her was distance. To a quiet town far from the city. Somewhere no one knew her name. Somewhere no one knew what she looked like before ink dyed hair and locks of ink black hair littered the bathroom floor. Somewhere she might finally have a chance at ordinary life.

And in some ways, she did.

The people there were polite. Friendly. As long as Yuuri carefully maintained the illusion. She kept her hair dyed. Deflected questions about her unusual eyes. Smiled when expected. Spoke softly. Drew as little attention to herself as possible. The version of Yuuri everyone came to know was one she had carefully assembled, piece by piece.

Quiet. Unassuming. Easy to accept.

But it never erased the feeling like she was wearing shoes a size too small and clothes two sizes too big.

Every morning, she stood before the mirror and carefully put herself together. She checked her hair. Practiced her smile. Made sure there wasn't a single crack that might reveal the parts of herself the world had already decided it hated.

Then she went to school. She laughed when appropriate, listened more than she spoke, remained friendly but maintained a polite distance, and became whatever version of herself allowed the day to pass without incident.

When evening came, she returned to an empty house. Only the sound of her footsteps accompanied her. The steady beating of her own heart. She washed the day away and stood before the mirror once more.

The girl staring back always felt unfamiliar. Like she was looking through the glass instead of in a mirror.

Yuuri could never explain why.

Like nothing about her felt like it belonged to her.

It was a quiet ache she carried she knew not the shape of.

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Then one day, she felt the urge to reach out to the mirror. It felt like something was beckoning her.

She closes her eyes.

And opens them to…darkness?

She pushes open the coffin.

And finds herself surrounded by an unfamiliar sight. Blue fire engulfing everything. The clamor of voices - some panicked, some outraged, some relaxed.

And so her adventure in Twisted Wonderland begins~

Notes on Yuuri

While Yuuri begins as the embodiment of another person's wish - it doesn’t erase the fact that everything she experienced was real to her. Even if it was just a dream, she lived. Everything that comes afterwards- the friendships, the challenges, the laughter- they aere all real to her. And it’s through that, that becomes someone outside of the Moon Princess’s reflection.

The constant feeling of being "out of place" as she was growing up were both emotional struggles for her but also an indication of her someone else's dream brought to life.

One of my initial concept ideas played around with the Dark Mirror and so I used that as the main mechanism that summoned Yuuri into TWST rather than the dark carriage. It just feels like it fits better into this rewrite.

Through Books 1- early Book 3, she very much appears as a pushover. She’s grown up learning to change herself to make herself fit in and more palatable to others so it’s quite easy to push her around. It’s the events of Book 3 that pushes her to start to take off the mask and start to step up more.

Since she’s spent so much of her life maintain a polite distance and observing others, her observations can come across as dry and even sass . Normally she keeps this as an internal dialogue, but the NRC boys have been a terrible influence on her.

“It’s exhausting isn’t it? Having to pretend you’re someone else just to make others happy.” → is the main reason I feel like Yuuri goes out of her way to understand and get to know Jamil better. And then it spirals from there ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Notes from Ame

A large part of my desire to rewrite/add to Yuuri is wanting to more tangibly connect the folktale of Kaguyahime to her in some way. I made a post some months ago thinking about wanting to complement/contrast Yuuri in some way. And this was born from it. I've yet to hammer out the FULL relationship between Yuuri and the Moon Princess (open to ideas honestly!) but I'm glad I got to incorporate it in some way.

At the end of the day, everyone will eventually awaken from their dreams. Yuuri's existence hinges upon the Moon Princess sleeping, so what will happen when Moon Princess begins to stir? I'm still hammering that out too asdlkjsdlkf

Yes I have been told Yuuri is going to have the greatest crashout of her life learning about the true nature of what she is. Yes I would like to draw that lol Please check back in -looks at schedule- six business months 😭

— ꒰ DEUCE SPADE ꒱

When Deuce’s mom invited you to stay at her house in Clock Town, you thought you could never get used to her motherly nature and her big way of showing hospitality

She kept pinching your cheeks and handing you far too many compliments for you to handle — it didn’t help that Deuce agreed with everything she was saying with such sincerity that you might as well combust. Though Grim was gagging every single second of it but let’s ignore that for now

Now it was his turn to be embarrassed

“And this was when he was still going to bed with that rabbit stuffy, he wouldn’t go to sleep without it! Such a cutie he was!” She gushed over him — clutching a hand on her cheek as she fondly looked back on the old memories they created on the photo album

‘Such a cutie’ she was right, the little drool on the side of his face and the way he was holding his little plushy tightly in his arms. All while wearing hot pink pajamas. The sight made your heart melt as you squealed

Meanwhile on the other side of the couch, lies a blushing Deuce who was debating whether or not he should grab the album before you see something too mortifying. But on the other hand, he loves seeing you get along so well with his mom. His hands neatly placed in his lap as he peered over — trying to make sure you don’t take any pictures for Ace. Sevens knows what he’ll say about his stupid baby pictures

His mom turned over to the next page — her eyes lit up “And this when he was potty training! He still makes that face you know?” you both giggled as you agreed

‘Okay maybe now is the time’ Deuce thought as he made a grab for it — nearly hitting his chin in the process “[Name] aren’t you hungry? How about I make you some omelettes?”. His mom gasped as she looked back at the clock “it’s nearly dinner time, you must be starving” she got up almost immediately — taking you by the arm as she led you to the kitchen. Deuce pumped his fist up in the air for successfully distracting you two and then dropped the book back on the couch

Unbeknownst to him, a certain little dire beast had the prefect’s phone and smiled mischievously at the chaos he’s gonna cause later “Tee hee this will teach you not to be so lovey dovey”

— ꒰ JADE LEECH ꒱

Meeting Jade’s parents with Grim was stressful enough, meeting them at their house underwater was possibly even more stressful. Instead of using water breathing potion like you would have liked, Jade insisted that you both have to use a merman transformation potion. Something something about how it’s more long lasting compared to the water breathing one

Trying to figure out how to move in your new ‘shrimpy’ form ( as Floyd calls it ) without totally embarrassing yourself was a challenge. Jade, perhaps doing this on purpose, gave you a helping fin on learning how to swim the merman way

Now your here, somehow heavily sweating in the sea while getting a house tour led by his mother and your lovely boyfriend, as Jade was about to show you his childhood bedroom you saw something big in the corner of your eye

A large family portrait, specifically a portrait with a tiny translucent baby, a baby moray eel

Jade’s left eye seem to twitch “Oh I didn’t realize you had this photo as a portrait mother” he turned over to her. Her lips effortlessly curled into a slight smirk “I recently had it done, I thought this picture would be perfect to fill this empty gap”. She glanced over to you “Besides, don’t my children look ahem charming?”

Charming was one way to put it. His yellow eye seem to bulge out compared to the other and his mouth was pulled into a large smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes

A very blood stained mouth

Minus baby Floyd, nobody else in the picture seems to notice that he was clearly chewing on something he wasn’t supposed to. The lower half of his face was littered with a darker color as he ate whatever he was eating, like a rapid animal

Any normal person probably would have run to the hills by now or in this case swim to the hills but since you were dating Jade Leech; vice housewarden of the most shadiest dorm. You’ve started cooing at the photo

Despite his bizarre appearance, you’ve thought he still looked adorable? you must have truly loved him no matter what he did or what he looked like. Jade smirked at his mother as you continue in your endeavors, not knowing that this was all a little test that she’d concocted

Meanwhile Grim was silently begging for this trip to be over, those tuna cans were not worth the price for the monstrous sight he had to see”

— ꒰ SILVER VANROUGE ꒱

Going on a picnic date with Silver was always a treat — his animal friends would give out extra berries and would help finding the most perfect spot. Plus little cute cuddly animals surrounding Silver made him look as pretty as a flower in spring — maybe even prettier than flowers. Though it’ll probably be even better if a certain four legged roommate didn’t come along too

Which is why you were outraged when Silver’s animal friend; a deer, plucked out a unknown bald short man with a ridiculously large mustache holding a vintage camera in a nearby bush — clearly intending to take a picture of you two. Silver had to hold you down before you could personally beat up that weirdo

“My dear, please don’t worry this is Lil- I mean my father” Silver quickly explained — you had to do a double-take. You looked back and forth between the two. Luckily Grim took the rude words out of your mouth “BWAH! There’s no way that odd guy is related to Silver!” Grim shouted

The alleged father dust off the grass on his clothes “it’s true we don’t look alike but he is my son” he took out a photograph “Here I have some old baby pictures if you want to see”

That got your attention real fast and now your siting here having a picnic with Silver’s weird father, Grim, a couple of forest creatures and Silver himself, who was cringing each time his dad mysteriously brings out another picture from who knows where

“This was when he fell asleep while I was feeding him! Now thinking about it, he always falls asleep during snack time” ignoring the strange black smoking soup with steams of skulls in the foreground, baby Silver’s sleeping face looks just as cute as his regular self. His little patch of hair was messy like he just got up from bed — one tiny hand still reaching out for his father. You’ve practically had hearts in your eyes

Older Silver licks his teeth “Shouldn’t we get back to school? It’s nearly sundown and we might get locked out” his father jolted up “Oh fiddlesticks you’re right! We have to go back now” Grim put his paws on his hip “What do you mean we?”

Silver’s dad checked his imaginary watch “Oops would you look at the time! Stay in school kids” he winked and then jumped into the same bush he got caught in — his bald cap flying off

Grim then turned to Silver “Hey Silver, why is your dad wearing a bald wig?” Silver sighed like a old man experiencing a divorce

— ꒰ BONUS ꒱

You’ve were strolling through your phone gallery while your boyfriend was spooning you from behind when you came across an old picture of Grim. You’ve started tearing up at how much he changed from compared to how you first saw him

Your boyfriend hearing you sniffing, was concerned until you shoved the phone to his face — almost blinding him with the brightness

“Didn’t he looked so adorable when he was a baby?” you’ve dramatically cried into his arms “…. You met him 5 months ago ….” you’ve cried even harder

“Hey henchman! Don’t go blasting my photos! My reputations as a great mage would be ruined!” Grim who was napping on the other side of the bed called out

· · ─── ꒰ • · ✦ · • ꒱ ─── · ·

While Deuce’s and Jade’s mother’s names has been revealed in their respective hometown event I didn’t want to necessarily use it as it felt more personal like I still wanted that gap between the reader and the relative, hence why Lilia also wasn’t named in this fic

Knowing that beastmen babies are more animal like probably means that mermen are in the same boat and oh my goodness would the Octavinelle trio look like such ugly creatures of horror because what do you mean eel babies are translucent???

In Jade’s dream in Book 7, Floyd mentioned that Jade was actually the more troublesome child between them; never listening to his parents so I doubt he would look good in a picture he wouldn’t want to take

Realistically Silver would have told reader about his adoption before going into a relationship but where’s the fun in that?

Aaaaaaaaaa Grim I love grim so much I love him I love him I love him, since I think of him as a son, I decided to add him too as a special treat