Fanfic / Counting Sheep

How long does it take for a dream to stop being a dream? About as long as it takes you to notice the sheep you've wrangled into your flock.
So basically never.
- Counting Sheep Summary

Counting Sheep is a Twisted Wonderland fanfiction written by KlonoaDreams (Of Façade (Persona 4) and Butterfly Child fame) adapting the story of Yuu, who is an Amnesiac Hero in this fan-novelization and how she reacts to her new circumstances.

The story can be read on AO3 with an alternate link to fanfiction.net.

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Counting Sheep contains the following tropes:

• Abusive Parents: Yuu's biological father and stepmother are both neglectful and emotionally abusive to her, due to the stigma that illegitimate children had in Japanese society. As a result, they are emotionally neglectful of her when they brought her in after her grandparents died and the neglect extends to Yuu's half-siblings who bully her in return. The end result is Yuu being heavily malnourished when she was brought to Twisted Wonderland.
• Acceptable Breaks from Canon: Due to the game's main scenario still ongoing around the time the story was published, there are some plot points and character development from the source material that didn't make it for this story such as Crowley painted as a relatively heroic person due to growing paternal affection for Yuu and Grim being revealed to be Twisted Wonderland's counterpart to Fate/Grand Order's Fou in the "University AU".
• Action Survivor: Yuu, while she has no magic, her reflexes and adaptability make up for it.
• Adaptational Gender Identity:
  • In the main game itself, Vil states that he see himself as a man. In this story, he's a masculine-leaning non-binary. Lilia is also non-binary in this story.
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • Crowley is a Downplayed Trope of this. While he still retains some of his canonical traits and role, he is far nicer to Yuu than he is to the canonical Yuu.
  • Yuu being nicer to Grim led to Grim softening up early. Just like Crowley, this is a Downplayed Trope as Grim is still a mischievous self-centered monster cat, and not even Yuu's kindness and leniency tone down his ego.
• Adults Are Useless: Averted Trope. Crowley and the staff of Night Raven College are far more involved with Yuu's well-being than they are with the canonical Yuu due to noticing the warning signs and the implications of Backstory Horror behind Yuu's state when she was first brought to Twisted Wonderland.
• Alice Allusion: An invoked example where the uninvited guests of the Unbirthday party are to dress the part as the "Alice" of the party.
• All There in the Script:
  • Beyond the main story, the author has answered and spoken of future world-building bits and other potential interactions that eventually made it into the story on their tumblr and organized under the fanfiction's tag. The author also discusses and reveals several hints of future scenarios and foreshadowing for the main story on their discord server as well as outside of Tumblr.
  • While the game events are generally non-canon due to the timeline they are set, the author considers that all the events in the game will happen in Counting Sheep and are part of the story's "Canon" timeline.
• Alternate Self: The "University AU" reveals that Grim is the Beast III of Twisted Wonderland, making him Fou's counterpart.
• Amnesiac Hero: Yuu starts without any memory of her old life before being brought to Twisted Wonderland. The author mentions that this is because both "Yuu" and the original soul's memories and life are in the process of merging into one.
• Animal Motifs: Yuu is associated with sheep and sheep metaphors are going around in the story itself. Yuu also had a Punny Name in the fan-nickname the author gave her as the canonical name for the Player Character, Yuu, had the same vowels as an "ewe" (A term for a female sheep).
• Backstory Horror: The staff of Night Raven College have varying degrees of horrific realizations and speculations to Yuu's past due to finding her malnourished state all of them, Crowley included, decide that sending Yuu back to their original world is counterproductive if their assumptions to Yuu's past is true. The author confirmed this on their tumblr and discord discussions, revealing that Yuu is an illegitimate child between a Japanese man and Mexican exchange student and was left to be raised by Yuu's paternal grandparents. When said grandparents died of old age, she was brought to her father's home where she is neglected and abused due to her illegitimate status before being brought to Twisted Wonderland and she ultimately died from the abuse in her original world. While Yuu had her track team coach as a Reasonable Authority Figure, the societal issue that interfering with another family's matter is considered rude in Japan prevented the coach from doing anything too drastic beyond making sure to keep Yuu healthy and fed, and by the time he did something by contacting social services, Yuu is already dead.
• Bifauxnen: Yuu's androgynous appearance made the students assume that Yuu is a boy. Yuu hasn't bothered to correct the students yet until the end of the Savanaclaw chapter due to Cheka unintentionally calling Yuu "big sis".
• But Not Too Foreign: Yuu in this story is of half-Japanese, half-Mexican heritage from a Japanese father and Mexican mother. Despite her mixed heritage, Yuu lived in Japan for most of her life and was raised by her paternal grandparents due to having been abandoned by her biological mother as revenge against her biological father for impregnating her.
• Cain and Abel: A Downplayed Trope in Counting Sheep, part of Yuu's backstory is that she is the Abel to her half-siblings from her paternal side of the family, all of whom bully her because of how their parents emotionally neglect and abuse her.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Yuu is a little, to put it mildly, loopy due to her constant sleepiness and being an Amnesiac Hero herself.
• Clueless Dude Magnet: According to the author, Yuu will eventually garner the romantic interest of a majority of the main named students, including some from Royal Sword Academy. However, Yuu is oblivious to any sign of romance for a good portion of the story.
• Composite Character: Via Crossover and Shared Universe, Yuu in this story is both the canonical Player Character of Twisted Wonderland and Ritsuka of Fate/Grand Order.
• Crossover: The story has a crossover with Fate/Grand Order that took place after the main casts had graduated from Night Raven College, dubbed the University AU where Yuu and the major Night Raven College characters are summoned to Chaldea and Yuu taking the place of Ritsuka as Humanity's last master.
• Culture Clash: In this story, beast folk generally don't allow others to touch their ears or tail unless they are family or a future spouse. Yuu unintentionally did a pass due to being overtly friendly and unfamiliar with the world of Twisted Wonderland such as Leona thinking that she is trying to flirt with him while Che'Nya calls Yuu bold.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Yuu is a Heroic Bastard born between a Mexican transfer student and a Japanese man and while she initially lived happily with her grandparents, she was taken in by her biological father after her grandparents passed where she is later bullied, neglected, and emotionally abused for being a "stain" of the family. She eventually died from being malnourished and brought to Twisted Wonderland.
• Dungeon Bypass: Due to Yuu pointing out that the Dormmouse in the teapot had awaken from slumber the first time the group brought the apology tart in the Unbirthday Party, Deuce was able to bring Ace, Grim and Yuu away from the party after they finished dealing with the Dormmouse, avoiding the fight that would have left Deuce and Grim locked with Riddle's Unique magic.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • The author has mentioned that Yuu still clung to the hope of being able to return home to find her grandparents, but her losing her memories due to having died in her original world made her forget that her grandparents are already dead for years. It comes to a toll come the Diasomnia chapter where Yuu finally remembers and had a breakdown over having no one to return home to.
• Early-Bird Cameo: A good portion of the cast who didn't show up or interact with Yuu early in canon before the dorm-focused chapter interacted with Yuu early in this story. The first major case is Malleus and Silver in the prologue followed by Idia, Ortho, and Vil in several points of the Heartslabyul chapter.
• Everyone Is Bi: The author mentions that none of the casts are remotely straight unless stated otherwise.
• Fairy Tale Motifs: According to the author, Yuu is closely associated with Pinocchio as a motif with her story paralleling Pinocchio's wish to become a real boy in the same way Yuu grows to be her own person away from her past.
• Family of Choice: Yuu formed one with Grim, the Ramshackle ghosts, and also the staff of Night Raven College.
• Formerly Fat: Deconstructed Trope. In part of Yuu's backstory, Yuu used to be chubby, living well and eating well under her grandparents. However, she faced gradual malnourishment under the emotional neglect and abuse from her biological father and the paternal side of her biological family, causing her to lose so much weight to a point it's considered unhealthy by the time she was brought to Twisted Wonderland.
• Friend to All Living Things: Yuu, who the author described as having a Disney Princess like aura, is one and it becomes part of the basis for the Beast Tamer EX Running Gag. Animals are easily attracted to the aura she gives out and she is kind and friendly to boot.
• Grandparent Favoritism: Yuu cared for her grandparents and didn't give much thought about her birth mother or father.
• Heartwarming Orphan: A variant of the Backstory Horror hints that Yuu is facing abuse and neglect by the Night Raven College staff, which points to Yuu being abandoned in all but name, her friendliness and kindness gave this effect to not only the staff but also the the major students in the story.
• Heroic Bastard: Yuu in this story is revealed to be a child born out of wedlock who was Raised by Grandparents until they died from old age and suffered from Parental Neglect and abuse under her paternal family. However, that doesn't stop Yuu from being cynical and even when brought to Twisted Wonderland, she still remains a heroic, idealistic person.
• Hidden Depths: Yuu partly due to being an O.C. Stand-in. To note some examples:
  • Yuu used to be a former track team member and can run faster than Deuce. However, her malnourishment made her a Fragile Speedster instead.
  • Yuu is a Supreme Chef who can cook and bake food well.
• I Choose to Stay: The author confirms that Yuu will eventually choose to stay in Twisted Wonderland instead of returning back to her original world. Considering the Backstory Horror of Yuu's past and how the only family waiting for her are her abusive paternal family, it's probably a good thing that Yuu doesn't return.
• Laser-Guided Karma: A posthumous one occurred as the Author mentions that Yuu's abusive paternal family get their just deserts when Yuu's track team coach reported them to social services for their abuse of her.
• Mirror Character: Yuu is this for Neige due to having near similar personalities and aura with them. One of the author's doodles also has them both shown to be getting along quickly when they finally interacted and meet each other in person.
• Named by Adaptation: The three ghosts residing in Ramshackle are given the names Avery (The tall skinny ghost), Boris (The short ghost), and Claude (The tallest and plump ghost).
• No Name Given: Downplayed Trope for Yuu, as her surname is not known so she's only known by her given name to the people of Twisted Wonderland.
• Oblivious to Love: Yuu, much to the chagrin of those unfortunately crushing on her.
• O.C. Stand-in: Due to the canonical Yuu being a Protagonist Without a Past and having little to go on beyond being a normal human who is Trapped in Another World, Counting Sheep Yuu is this out of necessity.
• Only Mostly Dead: The author reveals that Yuu already died in her original world, her physical body perishing. Yuu is only alive and physical in Twisted Wonderland due to the nature of how she was brought to Twisted Wonderland.
• Parental Abandonment: Yuu was abandoned by both her biological mother and her biological father, with the latter sending Yuu off to her paternal grandparents but was forced to take her in when Yuu's grandparents died of old age.
• Parental Substitute: The Night Raven College staff grew to become one for Yuu. This is especially prominent with Crowley who over the time, grew to consider Yuu his own child.
• Platonic Life-Partners: Yuu had this with Jack, they remain close friends without romantic attachments.
• Point of Divergence:
  • Yuu sleepily gave up the ceremony robe she was wearing to Grim. As such, none of the Twisted Wonderland students knew of her presence besides the teachers until she appeared in person.
  • Because Yuu skipped the entrance ceremony, she instead interacted with Malleus, who was Locked Out of the Loop for the entrance ceremony and formed a friendship with him.
  • Yuu's friendliness to the ghosts in the Dwarf Mountain mine's convinced them to join her back to Night Raven College and become part of the Ramshackle staff.
• The Pollyanna: Yuu in this story is an optimistic Genki Girl who doesn't let things get her down easily. However, she still had limits and isn't always optimistic 24/7.
• Polyamory: According to the author, Yuu will eventually form one with almost all the cast with exception of Jack, Ruggie, Trey, Lilia, Silver and Sebek, with the former three viewing Yuu in a platonic light while Lilia, Silver and Sebek are Malleus' Family of Choice and would be considered as Yuu's future in-laws instead. Ortho is also excluded as he is more content staying as a brother-in-law for Yuu and prioritize Idia's happiness above all else.
• Running Gag:
  • Yuu unintentionally giving mixed messages through her interactions with some of the non-human students such as biting Leona's ears, an action considered as flirting to beastfolks.
  • Beast Tamer EX, a term coined to when Yuu successfully wrangle the Night Raven College students into behaving and helping out when prompted.
• Shared Universe: Via Crossover, Counting Sheep is connected with Fate/Grand Order which takes place after Twisted Wonderland's story was finished.
• Ship Tease: While there are plenty of it and going all over the place due to forming a Polyamory down the line, Counting Sheep Yuu majorly had this with Malleus, especially as the Author mention that Yuu took his hand in the prologue scene where the canonical Yuu was told to not let the hand go. Outside of Malleus, the next person to have major Ship Tease moments with Yuu is Leona.
• Shout-Out:
  • The Beast-tamer EX joke refers to the Fate Franchise, of which the author is a big fan of.
  • After Azul's overblot was dealt with, Azul tried to make amends with Yuu by later offering to take her to a boat ride similar to Ariel and Eric's own date in the Little Mermaid movie.
  • Crowley gifted Yuu a baby parrot that she named "Yaya-chan" after Jamil's overblot is dealt with, with said parrot meant to be a reference to Iago the parrot.
• Spiritual Antithesis: With Black or White, the story that inspired Counting Sheep. Both stories had a similar concept of an Amnesiac Hero Yuu who are both Trapped in Another World. But the two stories took on a different tone and direction to how the Yuu of the respective stories react to their new circumstances.
  • black or white serves as a Deconstruction Fic towards the canonical Yuu's situation and gears towards a shounen-esque take of the usual Twisted Wonderland novelizations in part due to black or white Yuu's more cynical and pragmatic approach to her circumstances, while Counting Sheep reconstructs aspects of the canonical Yuu's situation due to Backstory Horror combined into Counting Sheep Yuu's friendliness.
  • Counting Sheep Yuu is optimistic and her airheadedness garnered worry from the cast who eventually get pulled to her due to warming up to her optimism and eventually form a polyamory with her, while black or white' Yuu is a snarky cynical Jerk With A Heartof Gold who is far more guarded due to awareness of her own situation and doesn't trust easily, so she had a strictly platonic relationship with a majority of the cast due to them recognizing how guarded she was, while those that do like her romantically can be counted by one hand.
  • Counting Sheep Yuu remains a magicless individual and her story focuses on a Heal the Cutie arc due to hints of her Dark and Troubled Past, with bouts of turmoil due to canon events occurring and how Yuu eventually helps the students recover with her kindness. black or white Yuu chose to take matters to her hands and eventually found a way to safely borrow magic from the world under Lilia's tutelage, with her story being about Yuu adapting to her new circumstances but refuse to lay down and stay weak and magicless, leading to a more actioned story where Yuu plays a more proactive role to the events happening to her than to stay in the sidelines.
• Weak, but Skilled: Though Yuu is the local Unsorcerer, she is a quick-thinker and has strong reflexes from her years in running track so she can catch up to aid her friends.
• Wistful Amnesia: Despite her Amnesiac Hero status, Yuu still retained some of the emotional responses and trauma of what she went through before she was brought to Twisted Wonderland such as her fear of disappointing Crowley being a leftover from the emotional neglect and abuse under her biological father's family.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Initially, Yuu was hopeful at maybe being able to return back to her original world but as time passes by and she recovered her memories, she remembers that the people that she wanted to return home for is no longer there come the Diasomnia chapter.