My Plot Bunnies

The Magicians

Nguyen Mai Linh

(Prime Timeline aka Timeline 40)

Linh is a Vietnamese immigrant, adopted by an American family. While trying to decide which university she'd attend for her Master's degree, she found herself sitting in on the entrance exam for Brakebills. To her surprise, she was accepted. Her discipline was physical magic -- the ability to manipulate the nature and properties of matter and energy. Linh specifically excelled at telekinesis and pyromancy, which used to create fireworks to entertain her friends and peers on campus. Playful nature aside, she's smart, on par with Alice for book smarts. Two of her closest friends were Eliot and Margo who sort of took her under their wing when she joined the Physical Cottage. When the Beast arrives, Linh helps her friends by going to Fillory -- which she'd always dreamed about as a child, since she's a fan of the books like Quentin and Julia. Unfortunately, while saving Margo's life, Linh is killed and her friends bury her in the gardens of Castle Whitespire.

Nguyen Mai Linh

(Timeline 29)

The Linh of Timeline 29 is exactly the same as the Prime!Linh with a few small exceptions. While 40!Linh was accepted into Brakebills, 29!Linh was not. She and Julia are practically mirror images of one another -- 40: Linh is accepted while Julia isn't, goes a little crazy and becomes a Hedge witch; 29: Julia is accepted while Linh isn't, goes a little crazy and becomes a Hedge witch. With Marina's friendship and tutelage, Linh excelled at illusion magic -- the ability to create and manipulate powerful and very vivid illusions, able to stimulate and fool the five natural senses. She's adept at distorting the senses through mental manipulations and her illusions are powerful enough to become corporeal for a time. After the Beast took over and magic was gone, Marina and Linh band together with Josh, seemingly the only student left at Brakebills. When 40!Julia takes care of the Beast and opens a door to her world with a magical key, Marina convinces Linh to go with her to the other timeline. Because any timeline has got to be better than the one they live in.

So Linh finds herself in a different timeline with people who try to convince her to help them on their quest because she's their friend. Except she's not. 29!Linh is completely different from 40!Linh and they just can't seem to get it in their heads.

"You may be as different as the sun and moon, but the same blood flows through both your hearts. You are a god damn mirror image of her. And the Linh I know, the Linh I loved, she would help us."

"Are you seriously ripping off George R. R. Martin, Cyclops?"

"You bet your sweet ass I am. And we both know I'm right."

"No, you're not. See, your mistake is thinking I give a damn about any of you. I'm a hedge witch, in case you forgot. I never went to Brakebills in my timeline. I never met you. I'm not your Linh! Your Linh was weak and naive and it got her killed. So get it through your thick skull: I'm. Not. Her. I'm me. And I'm a fucking survivor."

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"You want them to quit trying to kill you? It's easy: leave Eliot."

"No."

"No no, you aren't listening. As long as you're in Eliot, they are gonna keep coming after you. And you can handle them, I know that, but it's gotta be getting annoying by now. Right?"

"...They don't like to play."

"I know! They're so boring! But I'm not. Do you wanna play hide and seek?"

"Yes! Yes!"

"Ok ok, here's how we're gonna do it: you hide in me, and they try to find us."

"You're trying to trick me."

"I'm not, I swear! Look, they care about Eliot. They love him. So they are not gonna give up on this. But me? I'm from another timeline. I don't have anyone here. No one here cares about me, no one here loves me. No one is going to come after me. We're alone here, you and I. If anyone belongs together, it's us. So what do you say, wanna play with me?"