User blog:Octofan/Twin Switch AU

Introduction
I’m just going to admit that I really, really like delving into the ‘what-ifs’ and alternate universes of all my favorite stories. It’s kind of neat to explore what makes a tale develop the way that it does. Most especially, I like how good alternate-universe scenarios explore how characters may change or stay the same depending on what is altered. One part of this is that I really like is reversing the roles of characters. Generally I’ve found this to be really, really hard to pull off--there are often too many complexities involved--but sometimes people can make some pretty good counterparts. In vocaloid, this is even harder for reversing songs because of all the pitch issues...

This blog concerns a reversal growing in popularity (or already kind of popular?): the songs Prince of Evil and Maid of Evil. Although in my opinion Prince of Evil is pretty lousy sounding as a song, Maid of Evil is a nice reversal of Servant of Evil. To my interpretation, it's a "what-if" that's approximately "what if Riliane was sent away and Allen/Alexiel became possessed by the Demon of Vanity?" I wanted to make out a version of how this one 'what if' would effect the rest of the Story of Evil and beyond. I know, there's no benefit, but...

I should note that this is a work in progress, considering the many, many things that would change from the twins switching (or things that stay the same but change in nature.) I've only figured it out as far as to the twin switch at present. (Ahhhifit'sbadmyexcuseisthelatetime.)

Alexiel Lucifen d'Autriche
"Alexiel Lucifen d'Autriche: Protagonist of tonight's ball and absolute ruler of Lucifenia. But he's also my twin brother."

--Rosalin about Alexiel in The Prince of Evil, Clôture of Yellow--



In this what-if, Alexiel became possessed by the Demon of Vanity instead of Riliane after the (somewhat warped) events of Twiright Prank. He lost his memories the same way Riliane had, and grew up without his beloved sister--his sole motivation in the old universe. His actions as king of Lucifenia would cause hundreds of lives to be lost and would eventually spark a revolution. His favorite snack was still brioche, since Allen liked it too.

In this world, Alexiel grew up to be bitingly sarcastic and cruel, growing arrogant in his ability to rule the country and distrustful of the other ministers. His kind and altruistic personality degraded under the Demon of Vanity and his painfully empty life.

Allen was more knowledgeable of politics than Riliane, and this is still true of Alexiel--he rules Lucifenia with an iron fist, killing multiple people, but keeps it running smoothly. During the famine, however, he prioritizes making Lucifenia and himself look strong over restributing his wealth to the ailing populace, seeing their suffering as a necessary sacrifice until aid can be procured. Allen's old willingness to kill if he believed the cause was worth it became magnified into killing anyone he saw as a threat to his security or image. He especially did not care for people making jokes at his expense, however good-natured. The only one he started to trust was his maid, Rosalin, who treated him with understanding and served him personally.

He never really asked her to do anything drastic for him, though, having more of a belief that one should do something on one's own rather than trust someone else with it (the reason why he went to Elphegort himself to negotiate financial aid with Keel Freesis) however, for things he could not do himself, such as killing as excellent a swordsman as Leonhart, he jumps at the chance to encourage Rosalin's murder of him.

Starting the Lucifo-Marlon War was as much a matter of not wanting to lose anything to Marlon as it was redirected anger at Michaela's rejection of him. He already harbored suspicions that the nation desired Lucifenia for itself, despite his friendship with Kyle. A man from Marlon taking a girl he was in love with


 * Alexiel’s name comes from the name he had before leaving, which he would have kept if Leonhart never adopted him.

Rosalin Avadonia
"Hey, don't worry! I'll stay with you. As long as you're on your throne with me beside you, your life won't be so empty."

--Rosalin in The Prince of Evil, Clôture of Yellow--



In the "what-if," Riliane was sent away with Leonhart rather than Allen, therefore escaping being possessed by the Demon of Vanity. She grew up a much nicer and (sorta) humbler girl with Germaine, under the name Rosalin. After a few years, in which she learned real fencing to protect herself, she was sent to the palace as a maid to attend to keep an eye on Alexiel.

Rosalin didn't share the complete altruism and wisdom that Allen did, not as well versed in politics (although probably moreso than when she was a sheltered little princess.) She was a little impetuous and headstrong, but very sure of herself and kind to those close to her. After growing up with Germaine, she viewed her as an idol and tried to follow her sense of justice.

She still loved her 'little' twin brother, doing what she could to alleviate his bitterness and unable to stand the thought of his death. Deep down, this could be attributed to her fear of being seperated from him again and, after Leonhart's death, a fear of being alone. While everyone else saw a cold and evil tyrant in Alexiel, she still saw the gentle little boy that healed her wound on the beach so many years ago and whom she helped with his fear of the dark. She felt they needed each other still, though conflicted about his tyrannical ways.

After Ney told her Leonhart sent her into the castle in order to kill Alexiel, she felt betrayed and fearful of losing her brother, and so killed her adoptive father. When she met and fell in love with Kyle, she hesitated about telling Alexiel he was the one in love with Michaela. Once he did find out, he almost stopped trusting her completely until she offered to kill him herself--although when it came time to do so, she couldn't.

When switching places, her original plan was to lead the revolutionaries on a goose chase and then discard his clothes in the sea, making it look like he drowned--she did not intend to die. However, she was caught...


 * I'm still not sure about the name Rosalin, but it's a name made of Germanic elements that means "gentle horse": Hros and linde, "horse" and "tender" respectively. It's also a bit of a corruption of Riliane like Allen was with Alexiel. Plus, er, Rosalin.

Kyle Marlon
"But, that--! That means Michaela's suitor is--!"

--Rosalin about Kyle in The Prince of Evil, Clôture of Yellow--'



Kyle Marlon remained pretty much the same in character, with his abusive mother and Vessel of Lust-inspired love for Michaela. He became friends with Alexiel early in life, rather than becoming anyone's fiancé. After he fell in love with Michaela, he also befriended Rosalin when she visited Marlon, finding her crush on him cute although unreciprocated.

His friendship with Alexiel ended after the latter set an army on Marlon with the intention of destroying it. He, in fact, was the one that revealed to the prince he was Michaela's suitor. During the Lucifo-Marlon war, he led his troops into battle and was killed on the front lines.

Michaela
"Whoever she was, since she had made my brother even MORE unhappy I hated her too." --Rosalin about Michaela in The Prince of Evil, Clôture of Yellow--' Her story remains the same initially. When Alexiel comes to Elphegort to negotiated aid from Keel Freesis, she meets the prince for herself and becomes the object of his affection--after already becoming the object of Kyle's affection. This was the extent of her involvement in the Lucifo-Marlon War, not the target but the cause. Although fearing Alexiel's retribution might turn towards her or, more likely, Clarith, she and the latter left Keel's service and became fugitives anyway, though not hiding from a full-on invasion force.

She likely would not have gone to fight in the revolution, considering her gentler nature and lack of displayed swordsmanship. When the revolution started, she and Clarith continued to hide, possibly taking refuge with Keel's family once more. After it was over, she went to tell the Tree of Eldoh her intention to stay as a human and be with the people she loved most.

In the process, she learned Eldoh's intention to make her his successor.

Clarith
"I got the recipe from a girl in Elphegort; you had better make it perfectly, just like she did. Her name was Clarise or something similar."

--Alexiel about brioche in The Prince of Evil, Clôture of Yellow--'

Overall having the same backstory, she expressed double the concern with both Kyle and Alexiel falling head-over-heels in love with Michaela.

Though Michaela remained alive in this version and the Green Hunting didn't happen, she had to leave Keel's employment initially because of  Michaela's role in the fiasco that was the Lucifo-Marlon War. They hide in the Millenium-Tree Forest until the war runs its course, and in the revolution they went to stay again with Keel

After the revolution, she and Michaela ran away together and she accompanied her to the Tree of Eldoh, where Michaela stated her intention to stay as a human to the god. She, of course, learned Michaela's secret in that event, though this didn't change their relationship much.

She doesn't become broken by Michaela's death, but it's also likely she'll never go to the monestary and will never encounter the Vessel of Wrath.

Minis Stoup
"Minis was probably going to go absolutely crazy. But that's okay, since it's fun breaking his bravado like that."

--Rosalin about Minis in The Prince of Evil, Clôture of Yellow--'

Minis would have more 'screen-time' in this version, since in most of Chapter 2 Rosalin accompanied him to Marlon as opposed to the scenes dedicated to Allen visiting Elphegort. His role would generally be unchanged, except he would perhaps make an effort to hide his bumbling nature as I imagine Alexiel would take less joy in shouting at him and more in having him killed--not to mention his incompetence would make Lucifenia look bad...

Alexiel had him executed when he had his breakdown during the later days of the Revolution.

Prim Marlon
"She didn't seem to like aiding us much. Although everyone else wanted to increase Marlon's esteem, maybe she doesn't approve of my brother's rule?"

--Rosalin about Prim in The Prince of Evil, Clôture of Yellow--'

Without any legitimate daughters to engage to Alexiel in order to secure her power, her plan continued to be to undermine Alexiel's rule and start a war with Lucifenia. For this reason, she didn't encourage Kyle's friendship with Alexiel and only agreed to aid the country because Kyle and many of the ministers agreed first during Minis' negotiations.

With her son murdered, she took "temporary" control of the country until a time when Kyle's successor was chosen. She ordered an invasion force into Lucifenia as a continuation of the Lucifo-Marlon War and then kept the soldiers as an occupying force.

Her biggest concern now is that she will not have nearly as much influence over whoever succeeds Kyle.

Ney Marlon
"Just forget it, Ney. I know you must have become upset from the incident. But you know, you really should just watch yourself in the future."

<p style="text-align:center;">--Rosalin to Ney in The Prince of Evil, Clôture of Yellow--'

Of course, Ney follows Prim's orders as always and helps to orchestrate the death of Leonhart. During the Lucifo-Marlon War, Ney received no orders to reveal Kyle to Alexiel, as Prim would not have seen herself benefitting from his death.

After Kyle revealed himself, Prim called Ney back to come protect her son against potential assassins. Kyle was later killed in the heat of battle, however, and Prim discarded the girl to Abyss I.R. for failing in her duties.

Mariam Futapie
<p style="text-align:center;">"Someone like her shouldn't have been concerned for a lowly maid, right? I didn't understand her in general; apparently my daddy didn't either."

<p style="text-align:center;">--Rosalin about Mariam in the Prince of Evil, Clôture of Yellow--'

Ney was called back to Marlon during the Lucifo-Marlon War, and Mariam grew very concerned over the disappearance of her daughter. Nontheless, she stayed and defended the palace against the revolutionaries and Marlon soldiers; with so many enemies she was quickly defeated and just managed to escape to a safe distance, fleeing the country to cause difficulties for Prim and Abyss I.R in the future.

King Arth Lucifen d'Autriche
<p style="text-align:center;">"He made Lucifenia the envy of the world, and no matter what I wanted to continue his legacy. I wanted to do everything for this country, like he did."

<p style="text-align:center;">--Alexiel about King Arth in the Prince of Evil, Clôture of Yellow--'

King Arth died early on. Instead of Queen Anne, he becomes the main inspiration for Prince Alexiel's slip into Vanity. As he was a strong king who led the policy of Lucifenian exansionism, Alexiel wanted to emulate his example and keep Lucifenia appearance up as a powerful kingdom against the rest of the world.

Twiright Prank
<p style="text-align:center;">"You are certainly too confident; we still have to worry about the Three Heroes."

<p style="text-align:center;">--Abyss I.R to Presi in Twiright Prank--

This is the thorniest issue in the swap, since it details the whole reason for why Riliane was sent away instead of Alexiel...I haven't been able to figure it out as well, especially without the story available to me, but here is my thoughts on it:

Since I would have Rosalin have all her memories of being a twin intact (because otherwise Alexiel would surely recognize her) I'd have to go with the the actual "what-if" of this whole thing being "what if Alexiel was possessed as planned instead of Riliane?"

In that case, the Demon of Gluttony is a might more pitiless and wasn't stopped by Alexiel's generosity. However, while that part of the plan went off well Alexiel would still discovered to be possessed by a Demon of Sin, and so the battle with Presi would still take place with the Demon being exorcised out again.

Having lost his memories and obtained some unpleasant qualities from the Demon, Alexiel wouldn't have suggested he leave. Riliane probably wouldn't have suggested it either, not displaying Allen's altruism back then. But she could have been sent away in the political conflict anyway, Anne now fearing for her safety while wanting to keep a personal eye on Alexiel's development.

The Adventure of Two Girls
<p style="text-align:center;">"The tomboyish girl is the daughter of a hero [...] The guarded girl is the daughter of a queen."

<p style="text-align:center;">--The Adventure of Two Girls Narration--

Rosalin in the Avadonia house initially did not get along with Germaine due to her self-important demeanor and arrogance inspired from being a princess. She was also sulky due to being taken away from her family, and overall it was not a good combination. Yet when Chartette was kidnapped, she accompanied Germaine under the belief she would certainly be needed.

After rescuing the girl together and opening up to each other as sisters, they two came home to a furious Leonhart. In the original story, he only struck Allen for the first and last time since he had reservations about striking a girl. Since both of them were girls, he would either be so furious he would strike one, and therefore get over his reservations and strike both of them, or he'd just explode verbally due to his worry. In the end, Rosalin probably took part of the credit for the rescue.

The Lucifo-Marlon War
<p style="text-align:center;">"This guy will learn soon enough the wrath of Lucifenia! Destroy the Blue Country--Marlon!”

<p style="text-align:center;">--Alexiel to Minis in The Prince of Evil, Clôture of Yellow--'

The second most thorny issue in this swap so far is the Green Hunting. Kyle Marlon is the one that Rosalin falls in love with, while Michaela is the one Alexiel fell in love with and aids in the revolution. Obviously, Alexiel wouldn't be engaged to Kyle. On the other hand, he wouldn't be engaged to Michaela either, since she's a peasant and forest spirit. It's also unlikely that he would even meet her if he just goes Riliane's route. He doesn't have to, though...So here is what I wrote up as happening:

Alexiel and Kyle still met, and they became good friends--Kyle in a big-brother role. Because of this, Marlon still was willing to aid Lucifenia's famine issues--Prim would need much convincing, however, as she did not see it a priority without an official link to Lucifenia (like the old Kyle's engagement to Riliane) and was likely thinking about war from the beginning. Keel would be convinced by Alexiel himself to aid the country--as Alexiel was more knowledgeable about politics than Riliane was (when not being an evil tyrant) and did not see a benefit in the people starving, he went himself to negotiate financial aid.

Rosalin, on the other hand, already had a crush on Kyle and for this reason arranged for Minis to take her with him to Marlon. Once there, she fell completely in love with Kyle--however, he confessed that he was already in love with someone...

Alexiel fell in love with Michaela, after visiting Keel. He sent her a letter expressing his feelings later, and she replied that she had no interest in him and that there was already a precious person in her life...

Enraged, Alexiel endeavoured to discover who Michaela's lover was. They discovered that she was being courted by a man from Marlon (Ney would likely try to hide from her foster mother the fact that it was Kyle, as Prim was still using him to rule Marlon by proxy and wouldn't benefit from his being revealed.) So Alexiel ordered the destruction of the island nation.

Kyle would eventually tell Alexiel on no uncertain terms that he was the one courting Michaela, via letter. During the war, he would lead his troops in attacking the Lucifenian invaders and would be killed on the front lines.

The battle came to a standstill as Marlon struggled to replace its king. Alexiel would then search for Michaela, to no avail, until the Revolution broke out.

The Lucifenian Revolution
<p style="text-align:center;">"We have been oppressed by the nobles! We have been looked down on by the King! However, those days will now end!"

<p style="text-align:center;">--Germaine in The Prince of Evil, Clôture of Yellow--'

For the most part, the Revolution would go like it did originally, with the addition of Kyle not being present for it.

One of the bigger differences would be that the revolution would receive more aid from the country of Marlon, Prim using her son's death as the perfect excuse to invade and occupy Lucifenia while she "temporarily" ruled over it. The Lucifenian troops didn't stand a chance and the Revolution ended much faster. Prince Alexiel was supposedly executed afterwards.

In the aftermath, Prim Marlon made her troops an occupying force in the country and added it to the island nation's territory. However, she and Abyss I.R have been stumped temporarily by the loss of Kyle, with the next candidates in line for the throne being sorts that would threaten her power over Marlon.

Closing
Well, that's what I came up with for now. (Probably gonna add more in the future/revise what I have, I'm a little tired at present ^ ^;) So suggestions, questions, and alternate scenarios will be appreciated. Also...not very skilled at politics myself, so ideas about that'd be appreciated to.