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Twice Gleeful is an ongoing Glee Alternate Universe sequel fic by MarineDynamite (who you may know better as cure_shabon of Pretty Cure Perfume Preppy infamy) and beta read by Tumblr user tiktokofoz, taking place sixteen years after the season 5 finale, "The Untitled Rachel Berry Project".

After making up for her disastrous attempt at a television career by resuming her longtime Broadway dreams and taking the musical theatre world by storm, 35-year-old Rachel Berry, out of the blue, retires from show business and returns to Lima, set to restart the Glee club and make it into something special again. With a Nationals championship in mind, she slowly assembles a brand new Ragtag Bunch of Misfits, underdogs and popular kids alike, each with their own issues and reasons to join. Among them is one Billie Abrams, who was dropped on Artie's doorstep as a baby and wants to know just who her mother is anyway.

The story can be found on Glee Forum and is being uploaded to Archive of Our Own, and also has a Wikia.


This work provides examples of:

  • Aerith and Bob: Several characters have particularly outlandish names. Possibly justified by the story taking place 20 Minutes into the Future, as well as the fact that even the canon Glee isn't exempt from giving certain characters unusual names (Aphasia, Sunshine, Sugar, Unique, among others).
  • All Musicals Are Adaptations: "Snowbound" features both an aversion (the original holiday musical White Winter Frost) and a straight example (a Broadway adaptation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise).
  • Alpha Bitch: It wouldn't be complete without one. This time around, the position seems to be shared by Kimber and Shiloh, though the former qualifies more for the trope. After "Busted", which ends in a Break the Haughty note for Kimber, both become Lovable Alpha Bitches.
    • Outside of McKinley, Mikaela could definitely qualify.
  • Alternate Universe: In which 90% of the canon Season 6 never happened.
  • Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Jeremiah's mother Elsa, as seen in "Waltz for a Ball", in which she comes to McKinley's production of Cinderella just to see her son... Even though all he'll be doing for the rest of the night is offer slushies as refreshments to the audience with the other Cheerios.
    • An unusual meta example occurred when, in the canon Glee, Artie's until-then unseen audition song turned out to be "Pony" by Ginuwine. Billie's reaction wasn't exactly the best.
      • Keep in mind that there is no Parental Sexuality Squick involved. Billie is okay with the idea of her dad having a sex life... Not so much with him singing a heavily sexually-charged song as an audition for an extracurricular club, and under the watch of a teacher to boot.
  • Black Gal on White Guy Drama: Played with, in that while the relationship between Patricia and August is seen as troubled, it's less about their respective races and more about them being from opposing show choirs.
  • The Bus Came Back: Lauren and Marley in "Curves and All" and Sugar in "Glass and Diamond". And they won't be the only ones.
  • Call-Back / Continuity Nod:
    • During a flashback in "Phoenix", Billie tells a group of jocks who were bullying Aiden to stop acting like a bunch of "straight douchebags", the exact same term Artie uses during his It's a Wonderful Plot segment in "Glee, Actually".
      • Aiden himself uses the same term while giving relationship advice to Rajeesh in "Moonwalker".
    • As first seen in "Breath of Fresh Air", Billie plays acoustic guitar in her spare time. Artie probably taught her to.
    • "Breath of Fresh Air" also has Jeremiah commenting that his mother Elsa was a back-up dancer in CrossRhodes: The April Rhodes Story.
    • Compare Kitty telling the Rising Phoenix kids that "back then [she] still was an unfinished masterpiece of the Lord Himself" in "Missing Piece" to her telling Marley "God made [her] and He's not through with [her] yet" in "Girls (and Boys) on Film".
      • Also in "Missing Piece", while talking to Anabiel, Billie brings up her father's "thirty or so affairs in film school", obviously referring to "Tested".
    • It's revealed in "Busted" that Brittany and Santana now have a daughter together. Said little girl's name? Valerie.
      • And then there's Brittany's mention of one Small Lady Rizzo Tubbington II.
    • Both "Busted" and "Curves and All" contain references to Kitty gaslighting Marley into bulimia in season 4. Also from "Curves and All", "You just got Zized."
    • In "Snowbound", Rachel recalls the House Party Trainwreck Extravaganza from "Blame It on the Alcohol" while explaining the concept of Truth in Song to the kids.
    • Billie comes up with an all-Michael Jackson setlist for Rising Phoenix's first Sectionals competition, akin to New Directions' all-Jackson Sectionals setlist in "Hold on to Sixteen".
  • Celebrity Paradox: Luckily avoided, in that apparently the author liked AV Club's speculation of Dani being Demi Lovato in a Princess Jasmine scenario so much she made it a thing here. Which explains why Dani never got a proper last name.
  • Demoted to Extra: Sue Sylvester. She gets a few scenes from time to time (such as the Cold Open for "Bubblegum Pink" in which she interacts with Danny), but isn't as prominent as she is in canon.
  • Dissonant Serenity: Mikaela. Particularly during her first meeting with Deborah in "Bubblegum Pink".
  • Disqualification-Induced Victory: In "Telling the World", the judges don't seem to realize the Bubble Pop Beauties are one member short until Rajeesh points out during the winner announcement.
  • Double-Meaning Title: "Busted", as in busting moves (the lesson of the week is about dancing) and being caught (Kimber's bulimia is finally made public).
  • Foreshadowing: There are various hints scattered throughout the story as to who Billie's mom really is.
  • Gay Best Friend: Aiden to Billie. Unlike most examples, though, Aiden is nowhere as flaming as your standard GBF and he and Billie actually are said to share interests (such as a fondness for pop music).
  • Gene Hunting: Billie's character arc, which involves her search for her biological mother after being raised by her single dad Artie all her life.
  • Given Name Reveal: "Moonwalker" reveals that Tina's name is actually short for Valentina.
  • Graceful Ladies Like Purple: The ballgown worn by Stephanie as Cinderella in "Waltz for a Ball".
  • Granola Girl: Anabiel is a mixture of this, Hippie Teacher and Innocent Flower Girl.
  • G-Rated Sex: The performance of "Marvin Gaye" in "Adrenaline Rush".
  • Gratuitous French: The Bordeaux twins. Justified due to them being children of Throat Explosion's Jean-Baptiste.
  • Hair-Contrast Duo: Kimber (red) and Shiloh (black).
  • Heroic RRoD: Deborah in "Bubblegum Pink", no thanks to Mikaela and the Bubble Pop Beauties. In the following chapter, it's Kimber who gets hit with this as her eating disorder takes its toll on her.
  • Important Haircut: Kimber at the end of "Busted", complete with a reference to Quinn's own haircut at the end of season 2 of the canon show.
  • Inspirationally Disadvantaged: Played with. Robin wants to become a director because of how Artie managed to get in film school in New York in spite of his disability.
  • Ironic Name: Mikaela Goodwyn only appears to be a good person at first sight.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: From the new kids, Deborah, Pluto, and Robin to a lesser extent. From the returning characters, Kitty.
  • Jukebox Musical: Ignoring the obvious, in "Waltz for a Ball" Deborah points out that her older brother Fabrizio became famous after portraying a lead role in one such musical, the Latin music-based Abrázame Bajo el Sol.
  • Just Friends: In "Moonwalker", it's revealed Tina and Artie decided to stay as nothing but friends in order to avoid getting caught up in romantic drama again.
  • Little Miss Snarker: Quite a long list of these.
  • Monster Mash: The whole theme behind the aesthetics the Jeepers Creepers, one of the Hufflepuff House Glee clubs competing at Sectionals in "Telling the World".
    Pluto: [while watching the Jeepers Creepers perform "Fright Song"] Eesh. And I thought the Bubble Pop Beauties were gimmicky.
  • Musical Theme Naming: Billie Jean Abrams and Valerie Pierce-Lopez join Beth Corcoran and Danny Schuester in the roster of canon character children named after songs.
    • Also, canon character Harmony and her children, Galliard and Rhapsody.
  • Not His Sled: The one Frozen song used in the story is not "Let It Go" as one would expect, but "Fixer-Upper". It Makes Sense in Context.
  • Only One Name: Patricia of the Bubble Pop Beauties. She is planned to have a last name, though.
  • Parental Neglect: In contrast with former Spoiled Brat Rachel, Deborah is constantly neglected by her parents in favor of her seemingly much more talented older brother Fabrizio, even at her quinceañera (as seen in a photograph at the end of "If the Slipper Fits"). This changes in "Waltz for a Ball", though.
  • Pink Is Feminine: The theme behind the aesthetic of the Bubble Pop Beauties.
  • Recurring Extra: Casence Von Till, the "Tater Tot" of the Cheerios, distinguishable for her dyed green hair.
  • School Play: Cinderella, in the aptly-titled chapters "If the Slipper Fits" and "Waltz for a Ball".
  • Shout-Out: Unusually, most of these seem to be unintentional.
    • A redheaded cheerleader named Kimberly. Now where have we seen that before?
    • Jeremiah protesting that Pluto shouldn't be playing Prince Topher because he "didn't even audition" was seen by tiktokofoz as a reference to High School Musical, though it was actually supposed to reference the memetic "She doesn't even go here!" line from Mean Girls.
    • The line Mikaela uses to introduce the Bubble Pop Beauties in "Bubblegum Pink" was also seen by tiktokofoz as a reference to Pitch Perfect, which was promptly denied by the author, who has never seen the movie in question.
    • Lord and Lady Tubbington's female kittens are apparently called Small Ladies.
    • In addition to the connection between Kimber and Kim Possible, Billie also shares certain character traits with another Disney heroine, Belle: both are hazel-eyed Brainy Brunettes who are outcast by the people around them, share strong emotional bonds with their fathers, and spend a good amount of time with their noses stuck in books (in Billie's case, yearbooks).
    • The name of Jeremiah's new friend in "Adrenaline Rush", Rhonda Burgundy, isn't just a thinly-veiled disguise for her real name, Rhapsody Bordeaux, but also a genderflipped version of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy's title character's name.
    • A purely intentional example: chapter 13 namedrops a one-shot McKinley student named Ximena Della Robbia. Knowing the author, it shouldn't be too hard to guess why she was given that particular last name.
  • Small Reference Pools: Averted in "Snowbound", which at one point has Paloma humming the theme song to Sealab 2021, of all things.
    • Some episode song selections also avert this by including little-known acts like Hayley Westenra and Steve Grand, as well as more obscure tunes from popular artists or musicals, like "Rollerskate Rag", "Back to the Start", "Rebel Beat" and "Disco".
    • Also played with when Casence Von Till is introduced in "Waltz for a Ball". While her name comes from a relatively obscure Twine by Porpentine (With Those We Love Alive), it's said in the fic that said Twine was adapted into an indie thriller feature film that made Twines mainstream in a similar fashion to how The Twilight Saga and The Hunger Games made young adult novels mainstream.
  • Show Within a Show: Rachel's short-lived, Very Loosely Based on a True Story TV series Starry-Eyed, which spawned a much more successful Indian remake.
  • Snowed-In: "Snowbound", in which Sectionals has to be delayed due to a massive blizzard that ends up stranding everyone in McKinley.
  • Soapbox Sadie: In "Waltz for a Ball", Stephanie briefly ad-libs a line concerning ableism and equality.
    • Billie could be one as well, if her reaction to the jocks bullying Aiden in "Phoenix" and to Deborah's accidentally ableist comment about her father in "Breath of Fresh Air" are anything to go by.
  • Spiritual Successor: It's not hard to pinpoint which New Directions members some of the Rising Phoenix kids are based off. Deborah is Rachel, Parry is Finn, Aiden is Kurt, Pluto is Puck, and Kimber is Quinn (though not in a good way). Outside the Glee club, Robin is clearly supposed to be the second coming of Becky.
  • Straight Gay: Pretty much all of the new homosexual characters. And according to Stephanie in "Curves and All", Demi Lovato.
  • Take That!: At the start of "Missing Piece", Beth comments she doesn't get Japan's hype about "lipsynching card idols".
    • In "Curves and All", the narrator states that Shiloh, as an analogy to Isis replacing Kimber after the latter is kicked off the Cheerios, never found it right how most Alice in Wonderland adaptations have the Mad Hatter Promoted to Love Interest to Alice while the March Hare "sways in the background".
    • "Moonwalker" features one to the concept of "friendzoning", which, in Aiden's words, is "nothing but a myth created by Trilby-wearing, self-entitled straight douchebags when they’re rejected".
  • That Reminds Me of a Song: It's a Glee fanfic, what were you expecting?
  • Twofer Token Minority: Aiden, who is gay and biracial.
  • 20 Minutes into the Future: The story is set in the 2030s, but not much seems to have changed from nowadays. The most jarring is the fact that most of the current Top 40 tunes sung by the kids, such as "Bang Bang" in "It Takes Two" and "All About That Bass" in "Curves and All", would be as old as the kids themselves.
  • Twin Desynch: In "Waltz for a Ball", it's stated by the narrator that Stephanie and Roxanne resembled each other a lot more when they were kids, before the accident that made Stephanie blind.
  • Thirteenth Ranger: Danny Schuester, who first appears in "Bubblegum Pink".
  • Uncanny Valley Girl: Mikaela, captain of the Bubble Pop Beauties. Patricia even used the trope name to refer to her in "Busted".
  • Very Special Episode: "Curves and All", which touches on body issues and self-acceptance.
  • Villain Song: The songs done by the Bubble Pop Beauties (minus Patricia).
  • Weight Woe: Kimber's inital character arc involves her developing an eating disorder due to the pressure to stay perfect. Furthermore, in "Curves and All", it's inverted with Stephanie, who deems herself too skinny, but gets over it after Marley gives the kids an inspirational speech.
  • Wham Episode: "Busted"

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