Fanfic / Living in a Frog World

"Living in a Frog World" cover picture for Part 2

Living in a Frog World is an Amphibia fanfic by Cowboy Alchemist.

Frank Ramirez and Anne Boonchuy were best friends once upon a time and then drifted apart. To the point where Anne had no problem robbing the thrift store owned by Frank's family.

However, they are forced to work together once they find themselves trapped in a world of talking frogs. Will they be able to rekindle their friendship, let alone escape from Amphibia?

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This fanfic features examples of:

• Adaptational Badass: In the show, Wally's father Wigbert was a polo player and not much of a fighter. In the retelling of "Swamp and Sensibility", however, he is shown to be a boxing champion from Oxfrog (a spoof of Oxford) and takes on a cannibalistic toad convict that's terrorizing his mansion.
• Adaptational Karma: In the canon episode "Toad Tax", Mayor Toadstool got off scot-free for hiding the town's taxes. In the episode's retelling, he gets shot in the butt with an arrow by Anne.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • Sasha, of all people, falls into this category. While she was a manipulative Alpha Bitch in the show, she never intended to harm Anne or Marcy, and even officially pulled a Heel–Face Turn in the third season. In this story, she is more ruthless and manipulative, even resorting to theft when she doesn't get her way and throwing people, such as Frank, under the bus for her crimes.
  • In the show, Tritonio was Affably Evil, but had a caring side to him in Season 3. Here, however, he says he murdered the Bogwaters and lied about them selling their business to him. In fact, he actually attacks Anne after double-crossing her, Sprig and Polly, and is more than willing to hand Frank over to the toads and collect the bounty on his head for killing Tartarus.
• Adaptation Expansion: The store from which Anne and her friends stole the music box is given more of a background as a place owned by one of Anne's former friends. This adds even more drama to the crime, as Anne is so cowed by Sasha's manipulation, she has no issue stealing from one of her old friends.
• Adapted Out: Most of the episodes from Season 1 of the canon series are left out mostly due to them being fillers. Although the events of "Civil Wart" are referenced in the retelling of "Trip to the Archives".
• Almost Kiss: In Chapter 17, after Frank tells Anne about his life in prison and how she came back to him, the two lean close to each other as if they are about to kiss, but get interrupted by the campfire's crackle. This causes the two teens to feel awkward and go to sleep with their new feelings about one another.
• Alternate Universe: Aside from Frank being part of the trio (or rather quartet), Chapter 26 reveals that Frank is the hero of this reality, not Anne.
• Ascended Extra: The elderly cashier of the thrift store Anne stole the Calamity Box from in the canon series is given a supporting role in this story, where she is Frank's grandmother and given the name Rachel.
• Badass Cape: Following the battle on Toad Tower, Frank replaces his M65 jacket with a green poncho Mrs. Croaker sews for him for his trip to Newtopia while she repairs the jacket.
• Bait-and-Switch: In the "Anne Hunter" chapter, it seems that the heroes, like in the show, will be hunted by the Scorpileo, only for it to be immediately killed by the Night Feeder, who is the real villain of the chapter.
• Berserker Tears:
  • In the rewrite of "Combat Camp", during his duel with Tritonio, Frank starts getting emotional while bringing up his tragic past. Once he gains the upper hand, he breaks down and falls to his knees sobbing.
  • This happens again in Chapter 23. After finding out she was the shoe thief, Frank starts shedding angry tears while he goes off on Sasha for framing him and ruining his life. Those tears continue to go on after he gains a Super Mode once Sasha slaps Anne.
• Big Brother Instinct: Although Sprig and Polly sometimes irritate Frank, he cares about them.
• Bloodier and Gorier: There is a ton of graphic violence that occurs in this fanfic such as limbs getting cut off and people and creatures getting either stabbed or slashed, all while getting blood drawn. In fact, one creature even gets dismembered.
• Blunt "Yes": When they're about to fight, Sasha asks if Frank is prepared to fight for "just some slimy frogs". Frank's reply? Yes. Yes he is.
• Broken Pedestal: Sasha is this to Anne and Frank as her misdeeds get revealed in worsening order.
• Central Theme: The author points out that the story's theme is on giving people second chances.
• Clothing Damage: Upon arriving in Amphibia, Frank's pants end up torn up and he loses his socks and shoes. The battle on Toad Tower ends up shredding his M65 jacket, so he replaces it with a green poncho while Mrs. Croaker sews the jacket while he's on his trip to Newtopia.
• Control Freak: Sasha is this just like in the show. The reason she butts heads with Frank is because he's the only one of her friends who doesn't dance to her tune and calls her out on her toxic behavior.
• Cornered Rattlesnake: Frank, who despite having no combat experience, is able to bring down the giant mantis creature through sheer adrenaline. Even he is surprised.
• Crush Blush: Throughout the story, Frank and Anne start blushing around each other when they're starting to have feelings for each other.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Frank's life turned upside-down when he was accused of stealing a pair of shoes that somebody dropped over a bridge and landed on his head. The store manager's assistant knew right away that he was innocent, but her boss did not believe either of them and manipulated her to testify against Frank or she'll lose her job. To make matters worse, his parents refused to believe that he was innocent. Frank was sent to 10 months in juvenile hall while Anne and her friends figured out what happened when gossip started to spread around the school. Even before that, Frank's family was having financial trouble, and him being in prison made things worse, so they had to sell the house and move into a rented apartment. After he was let out, Principal Murphy tried to let him back into school, but was overruled by the superintendent (who is Maggie's father), who said that Frank was dangerous and shouldn't be around normal kids. Feeling that he didn't want to be a burden to his parents, Frank moved in with his grandmother (the shopkeeper of Thrift Stop) after her husband passed away. Chapter 23 reveals that the real shoe thief was none other than Sasha.
• Darker and Edgier: This story has darker elements compared to other Amphibia fics, such as a teenager having his life ruined after he was wrongly convicted for a crime that was committed by one of his former friends and sentenced to ten months in juvenile detention while his family except for his grandmother disowned him. The deaths featured here are also more graphic and bloody than the ones in the show.
• Death by Adaptation: Most of the characters or creatures in the series get killed off in the story. For example:
  • The stick insect monster in "Cane Crazy" gets stabbed to death by Frank instead of wandering off after losing its hide to termites.
  • In the series, Domino 2 flew off after Anne threw her toy mouse away. Here, she tries to fly off, but due to Frank injuring her wing, she falls off the cliff and dies from getting impaled by sharp rocks.
  • The love doves in "Dating Season" get a spear thrown through them by Frank rather than getting knocked out like in the actual episode.
  • Instead of getting trapped behind a cage in the canon series, the mutated pumpkin in "Family Shrub" gets crushed to death by the gate when Sprig closes it.
  • In the rewrite of "Anne Hunter", the Scorpileo gets torn to pieces by this story's version of the Night Feeder.
  • In the rewrite of "Scavenger Hunt", instead of getting trapped in the manhole like in canon, the sewer gator is killed by Anne after she slices its throat with Hellcat's Claw.
• Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: When reciting Sasha's "advice", Anne blurts out that Sasha told her to avoid Frank, much to his disgust and mortification.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: Martha, one of the cannibal frogs in a retelling of "A Night at the Inn", gets an axe in her head from Frank.
• Disproportionate Retribution: As part of Frank's Dark and Troubled Past, the corrupt shoe manager had Frank sentenced to 10 months of juvenile detention for stealing a pair of shoes (which was actually Sasha's doing) and assaulting him and his assistant. Of course, the man had bribed the judge and jury by using his influence.
• Enraged by Idiocy: Anne's less than rational actions that get them in trouble at best and almost killed at worst, often grinds Frank's gears.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • As petty and vengeful as he is, even Barry finds the song "Summertime Loving, Loving in the Summer (Time)" to be annoying despite cursing Anne.
  • Despite being ruthless, Captain Grime comments in Chapter 23 that he disliked Lieutenant Tartarus, due to his massive ego.
• Fair-Weather Friend: Anne was this to Frank: she liked him a lot, but she still ditched him due to peer pressure from Sasha. Now she's trying to subvert this trope.
• Fat Bastard: The shoe manager who got Frank arrested on the night Sasha framed him for the theft. While he was trying to confront the boy, he slipped and broke his nose, then lied to the police about Frank stealing the shoes and assaulting him and his assistant. The manager then used his influence to have Frank thrown in juvenile detention. Chapter 21 reveals that the owner was eventually arrested when his crime was exposed, which was after Frank got sent to Amphibia.
• Foreshadowing: In Chapter 23, when Anne tells Sasha that Frank didn't steal the shoes, her eyes widen for a moment before she dismisses Anne's claim. This hints that she is the real shoe thief. Even before then, Frank says to Sasha he knows what she did, and for a moment, she panics, only to calm down when Frank says he knows she convinced Anne and Marcy to not be friends with him. This also hints that she thought Frank knew she was the shoe thief.
• Fright-Induced Bunkmate: At the end of Chapter 18, Anne sheepishly asks Frank if she can sleep in his bed with him after finding tonight's events to be a tad bit tramatic. Frank agrees, and they both close their eyes to try to not think about their already growing feelings for each other...only for Anne to fart and tell him to deal with it.
• Giant Spider: In Chapter 9, Anne has to save Frank from a gigantic spider, which is, of course, the Mega Spider from Primal (2019).
• Grumpy Old Man: Hop Pop has little patience for tomfoolery and is quick to punish misbehavior.
• How We Got Here:
  • The first chapter of the story opens with Frank and Anne waking up in Amphibia and being chased by a horde of snakes before the two end up in a river. Then a flashback reveals what happened two hours earlier with Frank catching Anne stealing the Calamity Box and getting them both teleported along with Sasha and Marcy.
  • Chapter 5 begins with Frank and Anne hunting and killing an elder elephant beetle before a flashback reveals what got them into this predicament.
• Humans Are Cthulhu: As in canon, Sprig initially sees Anne (and now Frank) as monsters who want to eat him.
• Indy Hat Roll: In Chapter 28, when he and Marcy are escaping from the Barbari-ants in their hive, Frank loses his hat while diving through the hole. He reaches back and grabs the hat just before Marcy closes the hole with the insta-vines.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Frank sometimes acts too angry and violent, but he truly loves and cares for Anne and the Plantars.Although his behavior is understandable given his past.
• Kangaroo Court: The end of Chapter 21 reveals that the owner of the shoe company who had Frank arrested for Sasha's crime used his influence to pay off the judge and jury to have Frank thrown in juvy.
• Legendary Weapon: Frank finds a scythe in the town archives known as Hellcat's Claw, a weapon created by the first Frog King of Amphibia, who united the world as one. It is also said that the scythe will be found and returned to the hands of the Frog King's descendant.
• Losing a Shoe in the Struggle: While Anne loses her right shoe like in the canon series, Frank loses both of his the first day he and Anne arrive in Amphibia, leaving him barefooted. He eventually gets a pair of sandals in Chapter 28 from Marcy.
• Mayor Pain: Mayor Toadstool, who rallies a mob to run Anne and Frank out of town despite them beating the giant mantis, much to Frank's outrage.
• Mirror Character: Frank Ramirez and Sasha Waybright ironically. They are both teenagers with parental issues and a troubled past. But unlike Sasha, Frank never became a bully and remained a good person.
• Mirthless Laughter: Frank does this after Sasha explains to him and Anne her plan to give Hop Pop over to the toads to be executed. Both girls are unsettled by this.
• My God, What Have I Done?:Happens to Sasha in chapter 23 when she slapped Anne in the face because of her words. This causes Frank to unlock his Calamity Mode.
• Mythology Gag: Leif appearing as a ghostly vision to Frank in the second part of the story is similar to how she appeared to Sasha in Sasha and the Frogs, another Amphibia fanfic.
• Named by the Adaptation: The elderly shopkeeper of the thrift store in the series is named Rachel in the story, and she is also Frank's grandmother (or abulita, in this case).
• Never My Fault: It is revealed in a flashback that it was Sasha who stole the shoes and tossed them to avoid arrest, only for them to land on top of Frank. She believed it was his fault for just being in the wrong place and the wrong time. She eventually admits to Grime that it was her fault Frank's life went downhill because of her.
• Not So Above It All: Frank is more level-headed than Anne, but he still isn't above stunts like taking Hop Pop's keys, although he admits he feels guilty about it. He also makes frog related puns at Hop Pop's expense.
• Only Sane Man: Frank, who is aware of how rotten Sasha is and tells Anne off for still associating with her despite everything she's done.
• Positive Friend Influence: Frank was the only person willing to stand up to Sasha's head games... which is why she made Anne and Marcy stop being his friends.
• The Reveal: Chapter 23 reveals that Sasha is the one who stole the shoes and framed Frank for her crime, albeit accidentally.
• Ruder and Cruder: This is a T-rated story, thus there is a lot more adult language than one would expect in a Disney cartoon.
• Saying Too Much: Anne accidentally reveals to Sprig and Frank that Sasha got her to break off her friendship with the latter rather than it being her own choice. Frank doesn't take it well.
• Scars Are Forever: In the "Toad Tax" chapter, Frank gains two scars on his face during his fight with Tartarus: a small one on his left cheek, and a large one on his right eye. In the following chapter, after Anne removes the bandages from his head, Frank's eye scar still remains. He later gains a smaller scar on the right side of his mouth from Sasha in Chapter 23 during their duel at Toad Tower.
• Shout-Out: Some of the chapters are adaptations of Primal (2019).
  • Frank's backstory is a combination of Holes and Persona 5.
  • The design of Hellcat's Claw is based on the Leviathan Axe.
  • The Wham Line exchange in Chapter 23 serves as one to The Owl House, as Sasha's confession closely resembles the one Lilith makes.
  • At the end of Chapter 26, Frank sings Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold.
  • Leif being Frank's Spirit Advisor was inspired by the Investigator from The Expanse TV series.
  • Two new characters, Indy and Rivet, are based on Brok and Sindri.
• Sinister Scythe: Frank's preferred weapon, which is actually made from the claw of a praying mantis. It gets destroyed in Chapter 13 by Lieutenant Tartarus, though he gets a new one in Chapter 16, which turns out to be a Legendary Weapon called Hellcat's Claw, which, according to Valeriana in Chapter 19, belonged to the original Frog King of Amphibia.
• Skirts and Ladders: In Chapter 16, when Frank, Anne and the Plantars get trapped in the archives, Anne shoots an arrow with a rope attached to it to the skylight in order to climb out. While she's climbing said rope, Frank is standing right behind her and blushes when he sees up her skirt. Anne, realizing Frank's in that exact position, yells at him that he'd better not be doing that, causing him to look away.
• Spared by the Adaptation: In the "Little Frogtown" chapter, the floor manager at Sal's factory survives with only an injury caused by Frank instead of falling into a vat of sauce like in the canon series.
• Spirit Advisor: Frank gains one in the form of Sprig's ancestor Leif. She appears as a construct of Frank's Calamity power that he unlocked during his duel with Sasha. She is also the one who tells Frank that he has been chosen by fate for something great.
• Take That!: At the end of Chapter 16, when Frank is about to play the first Star Wars movie for movie night, Sprig asks if there's a sequel series. Frank instantly shouts at him to never mention those movies.
• That Was Not a Dream: Frank wakes up thinking he dreamt of ending up in Amphibia, only to realize it was very real when he looks around.
• Toxic Friend Influence: It speaks volumes about how toxic Sasha is that she was able to get Anne to steal from one of her friends.
• Tragic Keepsake: Frank has two that once belonged to his grandfather before he passed away: his M65 jacket and combat knife.
• The Unapologetic: On her arrival to Wartwood in Chapter 23, Sasha acts like this. Even when Frank socks her in the face and spells it out to her what she did wrong, Sasha reluctantly says she's sorry, but only because Anne pleaded her to do so, and even then it wasn't very sincere, much to Frank's annoyance.
• Undying Loyalty: Despite Anne's less-than-stellar loyalty, Frank still insists on protecting her to his last breath. He's also this to the Plantars for letting him and Anne live in their house, which is why he refuses to go along with Sasha's plan to hand Hop Pop to the toads to be executed.
• We Used to Be Friends: Anne and Frank were friends, but drifted apart when the former sought to build a relationship with Sasha. All of this stems from when Frank (allegedly) ratted them out, including Marcy, for skipping school to have fun at the arcade three years ago, causing all three girls to be grounded until the end of the month. They have reconciled as the story progressed.
• Wham Line: During her fight with Frank in Chapter 23, Sasha reveals her involvement in the shoe theft.
  Sasha: You always thought you were better than me. That I could never be as good a friend to Anne as you.
  Frank: I am better than you.
  Sasha: THEN WHY WAS IT SO EASY FOR ME TO FRAME YOU?! (gasps and covers her mouth)
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Frank is understandably furious with Anne for stealing from his family's store. It was only being sent to Amphibia that stopped Frank from going further.
  • Hop Pop furiously tells off Anne and Frank for their ingratitude towards him in the third chapter, which is a rewrite of "Cane Crazy".
• Would Hit a Girl: The first thing Frank does when he and Anne see Sasha in Amphibia is slug her in the face for getting Anne to end their friendship and steal the Calamity Box, which got them all Trapped in Another World, much to the girls' surprise.

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