She'd pinned all her hopes on that music box. On the prospect of a magical solution to all her problems, whisking her and her best friends away to another world, far away from all her woes.
But... it didn't work. And now Marcy Wu is stuck in Connecticut, far away from her Only Friends and struggling to keep her head above water. When she realizes that the stupid, stupid music box wound up packed with the rest of her things, along with the library book that gave her that hope in the first place, she decides to give it one more shot. Just unlatch, twist and lift...
...and this time, this time it works. And she finds herself in another world. Alone.
But maybe they still made the leap over? She certainly hopes so, anyway. Maybe she shouldn't, though... and not for the reasons that immediately come to mind. For while Marcy is settling into Wartwood, Anne and Sasha have wound up in Amphibia as well... with even less warning or context than before.
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's Trade Us for the World is a Role Swap AU for Amphibia that explores a world where Anne didn't open the music box on her birthday. With Marcy landing in Wartwood, Anne at Toad Tower, and Sasha in Newtopia, what else will change about their tales...?
This fanfic contains examples of:
- An Arm and a Leg: Chapter 9 reveals that due to Anne getting the herons to destroy Toad Tower, Percy lost his right arm and was forced into retirement, which also put a damper on his music career.
- Answer Cut: In "Creatures in Caverns", Grime demands to know who Anne's 'barrette-wearing friend' is and where he can find her. Cut immediately to Marcy in Wartwood.
- Armor-Piercing Response:
- Marcy asks Ms. Croaker how long it will take for her to stop considering her to be an outsider. Ms. Croaker laughs, bluntly replying "Come back in a year and I'll tell you," causing Marcy to despair at her lack of progress.
- After hearing what school was like back on Earth, Sprig remarks on how boring it sounds and that he's glad he doesn't have to deal with that himself. Anne observes that he'd sounded sad before when he explained how there wasn't a school in Wartwood anymore, and he replies "I guess you can learn to miss anything, in some way, if it gets taken away by something worse." Anne quickly changes topics after that.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Proves to be one of the powers granted by channeling Wit.
- Badass Bystander: When the Chicka-lisk attacks, several of the residents of Wartwood step up to defend their homes.
- Bad Boss: Captain Grime was already this, but the fact that he made his injured troops track down Anne for weeks without allowing them to recover from their physical or mental wounds shows he only cares about himself.
- Big Damn Reunion: Chapter 8 ends and Chapter 9 begins with Marcy reuniting with Anne in Wartwood moments before the Toad Army arrives to capture Anne.
- Brutal Honesty: When Marcy apologizes and states that she never should've stolen the Love Dove eggs, Maddie bluntly agrees with her. However, she then follows this up by reassuring her when Marcy takes her self-recriminations too far.
- Commonality Connection:
- Averted in Connecticut. While Marcy seeks out those who share her interests, she finds herself unable to bond with anyone. The chess club freezes her out after she sweeps her introductory games; the members of the math club have plenty of inside jokes and don't respond to her bonding attempts; the Creatures and Caverns club is in the middle of a three-month campaign and don't really want her there watching them play.
- By contrast, Marcy immediately clicks with Maddie due to their mutual interest in magic, happily becoming her apprentice.
- Percy Lampshades this after admitting to Anne that he wants out of Toad Tower, observing that "I guess you out of everyone here would understand that."
- Crazy-Prepared:
- Played With; Maddie knows what sort of side-effects her curses have, so she naturally keeps the things she needs to counter them on hand. For instance, the Hammerspace-making curse inflicts an occasionally uncontrollable urge to burn effigies of those you care about, so she keeps pictures on hand.
- When the Chicka-lich attacks, Mayor Toadstool orders everyone into the proper formation.Resident: We have a formation for this?
Mayor Toadstool: We have a formation for everything!
- Cursed with Awesome: Deliberately invoked by Maddie, who has cursed herself in various useful ways... though they still have side-effects.
- Dare to Be Badass: Marcy attempts to rally the citizens of Wartwood in this way in "Protector", trying to convince them to help her protect Anne and themselves from the Toads.
- Didn't Think This Through: Played for Drama with Anne when she escapes Toad Tower, only to find herself struggling to survive in the swamp while dealing with her injuries.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: In "Protector", Marcy tries to reason with Captain Grime by pointing out that she's been merciful thus far and hasn't vaporized his army. Grime's takeaway is to call her weak.
- The Easy Way or the Hard Way: Stated by Lady Olivia while calmly staring down a hostile Sasha.
- Establishing Character Moment: Lady Olivia proves just how cool she can be under pressure when she gracefully steps into a hostage situation and talks the assailant down.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!:
- While trying to reassure the residents of Wartwood and herself that she'll be able to stay in the forest, Marcy realizes just how little she actually wants to do so, and just how dangerous it would be.
- In "Witch's Guilt", Anne does this after Marcy shows her the Calamity Box, as she recognizes it and talks her way towards asking her an Armor-Piercing Question: "Did you know?"
- Expository Hairstyle Change: Due to all the damage her hair has sustained, Anne has to be given a haircut by Fern, leaving it very short.
- Extremely Overdue Library Book: Referenced when Marcy realizes that she accidently brought Dr. P's Extraordinary Guide to Magic & Mystery to Connecticut with her, wondering whether libraries can still hit you with fines when you've moved out of state.
- Fish out of Water: Marcy doesn't take well to her new school, unable to make any new friends despite her best efforts.
- For Want Of A Nail:
- Anne's phone rings right before she opens the music box, distracting her at the critical moment and spurring her to head home at her mother's urging, leaving Sasha, Marcy and the box behind. As a result, Marcy's unable to avoid moving to Connecticut, and the box isn't opened until two weeks later.
- Rather than encountering Sprig, Marcy meets Maddie first, and immediately takes an interest in learning how to cast spells herself, becoming her apprentice.
- When the herons attack Toad Tower, Anne manages to manipulate them into breaking her chains and successfully escapes.
- Anne ends up at the Bizarre Bazaar much earlier without getting invited, but doesn't get the chance to meet Valeriana because the Toads are trying to find her, causing the vendors to pack up and leave. At the same time, Marcy summons the Chicka-Lisk to attack Wartwood in a desperate bid to win the town's respect.
- Got Volunteered: When Marcy needs a place to stay, Sprig volunteers the Planters, much to Hop Pop's surprise.
- Hammerspace: Maddie offers to teach Marcy a curse that, when laid upon herself, enables her to access her own personal pocket dimension. Unfortunately, getting all the ingredients proves easier said than done...
- Hit So Hard, the Calendar Felt It: The calendars in Amphibia are based around how long King Andrias has been in charge, with the notation of A.R.: 'Andrias' Reign'. Marcy and her friends arrive in 1043 A.R.
- Hope Spot: Anne stumbles across the Bizarre Bazaar, finding a stall that reminds her of the shop the music box was at. But its owner is 'Out to Lunch', and while she's waiting for their return, somebody warns that the Toad Army is approaching, and the whole Bazaar scatters, leaving Anne running for her life again.
- Hostage Situation: One erupts shortly after Sasha's arrival in Newtopia, namely because she takes a guard hostage.
- I Know Mortal Kombat: Downplayed; when facing an unexpected monster, Marcy mentally notes that the go-to strategy in a video game would be to find cover. She also compares the situation to playing Creatures and Caverns, giving her the confidence to act.
- Important Haircut: Act II opens with Anne getting her hair cut, internally cringing at how much needs to be trimmed after her recent ordeal. This underscores how, while her circumstances have improved, she still has to deal with the damage and the rest of the aftermath.
- In Spite of a Nail:
- While Marcy meets Maddie first, and the two of them quickly become friends, the Flours don't have any space for her to stay at their place, so she winds up with the Planters instead.
- Toad Tower still faces a potential assault from some deadly herons.
- Anne still visits the Bizarre Bazaar and Wartwood is attacked by the Chicka-Lisk, which the townspeople drive away with their formation of the beast offending it.
- Innocently Insensitive: Marcy's efforts to solve all the problems she faces on her first adventure with the Planter kids by herself makes them feel left out. Her attempts to justify this by noting that they're just kids and that she needs to protect them, like the hero of Vagabondia Chronicles looks after his companions, only makes them angrier.
- Jaw Drop: Marcy feels hers drop when Maddie reveals that she knows a spell that can let them access Hammerspace.
- Monster Protection Racket: In "Chicken Game", Marcy's the one who engages in this, unleashing a Chicka-lisk in hopes that some Engineered Heroics will help the rest of Wartwood accept her.
- Mood-Swinger: The stress of preparing for the move makes Marcy's parents swing back and forth between acknowledging how upset their daughter is and berating her for not helping more, leaving her suffering severe whiplash from not being able to predict what mood they'll be in at any given moment.
- Morton's Fork: Marcy's dream in "Witch's Guilt" presents her with one wherein opening the music box plunges her and her friends into endless possibilities, but she's unable to seize the Golden Ending she desperately desires. But not opening the music box also means that it's all but inevitable that she and her friends will be separated and grow apart.
- Never My Fault: Captain Grime refuses to acknowledge the part he played in triggering the heron incident, convincing his men that Anne was completely at fault. Marcy turns this against him by spelling out for him and the rest of the toads just how thoroughly he screwed up.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When the store doesn't have the Love Dove eggs Maddie requires for one of her spells, Marcy goes out and finds some herself. Unfortunately, this naturally has the side effect of pissing off the parents.
- No Sympathy: On the day that Marcy winds up disappearing, she has an argument with her parents over losing a $300 textbook, with her parents berating her and making clear that this means she won't have the chance to visit LA over the summer and see her friends again.
- One-Woman Army: Yunan, though this is Deconstructed; the rest of her unit feels superfluous and overshadowed, and Sasha exploits this to charm her way into their good graces.
- Pet the Dog: Percy and Braddock show Anne considerable kindness while she's imprisoned, sneaking better meals into her cell. Anne wonders whether they're going without some of their own rations for the sake of feeding her.
- Poor Communication Kills:
- The events of "Chicken Game" might have been avoided if Ms. Crocker had been more upfront about how Marcy could earn her trust instead of telling her that she's still an outsider.
- Even more tragically, Braddock and Percy wanted to help Anne escape, but were unable to reveal their plans and get on the same page before the heron attacked.
- Post-Victory Collapse: Happens at the climax of "Protector", after Captain Grime retreats.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Marcy delivers a truly damning one to Captain Grime in "Protector", calling him out on his horrific excuse for management, Skewed Priorities, and selfish mismanagement of the Toads.
- Revenge Before Reason: Proves key to the downfall of Captain Grime: after the heron attack, he forces his army to pursue Anne despite the severity of their injuries. Marcy calls him out on it, destroying his standing in their eyes while dismantling his attempts to pin all the blame for what happened onto Anne.
- Sadistic Choice: Grime offers to let Anne decide what happens to Marcy, but only if she tells him everything she knows right that moment. She caves.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: With the Toad Army approaching fast, everyone at the Bizarre Bazaar clears the way, costing Anne her chance to meet Valeriana.
- Shipper on Deck: Anne learns that Percy and Braddock are Twice Shy and tries to nudge them towards confessing their feelings to each other.
- Shout-Out: Marcy's dream during "Witch's Guilt" includes nods to a variety of other Amphibia fanworks, such as A Theory of Butterflies and Other Insects.
- Tragic Keepsake: Played With in that Anne worries that Marcy's hairclip could be this after Grime gives it to her.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Marcy unconsciously falls into this at first, though it's rooted more in her seeing the residents of Amphibia as NPCs. When called out about it, she mentally notes that she's having trouble seeing them as human because they aren't physically human, while also immediately recognizing that's a flimsy excuse.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Sprig and Polly call Marcy out on seeing them as just 'companions' after they invited her to stay with them when she had nowhere else to go, causing her to have a Jerkass Realization about subconsciously treating the residents of Wartwood as NPCs.
- Maddie quietly confronts Marcy about her summoning Chicka-lisk the Stormbearer.
- Worf Had the Flu: Played interestingly in "Protector": Marcy taps into the power of Wit to deal with Captain Grime and the Toad Army; however, she notes that they have pushed themselves to exhaustion pursuing Anne, and did little to treat the injuries they'd incurred in the heron attack.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
- When Marcy starts beating herself up over stealing the Love Dove eggs, Maddie points out that while she got them both into trouble, she also worked to correct her mistake and get them out of it, risking her life in order to protect her.
- In an odd example, Ms. Croaker handles the revelation that Marcy summoned the Chicka-lisk with surprising grace, telling her that she's a smart and skilled girl who could help out Wartwood in plenty of other ways, despite her outsider status.
