LauraWitch

To start off I realize I never did a ref for Hangman and figured I should throw in stick!Alan with them so they're not alone (plus some fluffy baby birds as a bonus). Hangman is a jackdaw, a small and playful corvid. There's not much to say about them other than that I hope Alan sent them to the Outernet instead of erasing them. They looked so happy and friendly in those five seconds of screentime they got. Stick!Alan is a ziz, another mythical bird like Eye and Orange. Zizs are gryphon-like creatures that represent the sky and the bounds of creation, which is pretty fitting for a creator entity originally from another realm accessed through a sky dome. If I were deciding a bird for human Alan he would be some other normal bird but since this stick!Alan is an animator turned stickfigure he gets to be special. He can change the size of his wings and prefers them to be a lot smaller than normal, among many other powers that came with being a hollow head stick.

Woe baby Purple be upon ye.

Baby avians are basically just baby birds for most of their newborn and toddler years. Grown avians can eat whatever they want but babies need to adhere to the diets of their wild bird counterparts. So Purple, being a lyrebird, needs insects and worms. They typically grow out of their pacman mouth but some don't.

Some color gang right before they met Orange. There're a lot of little details, or rather lack there of, in this. I'm wondering if anyone can point them all out.

And finally Green's noteblock concert. Look at this pretty peacock, showing off his tail in what's definitely not just an elaborate courtship ritual for the lyre in the audience.

It's pretty fun imagining how Green's tail acts in this au. Obviously it fans when trying to impress someone, but I also like the idea that he can control it as if it actually had bones.

(btw how does his tail look from the original design? I'm still figuring out how to draw it fanned out. Feedback is always welcome)

Ok so bit of a life update, this was supposed to be done a while ago, along with other avian art I have planned, but life hit me real hard. I don't want to bum anyone out so I won't say what happened. Drawing has helped me get back to some normalcy at least.

Canon designs for reference. The youngest will always be happy with the color gang, the oldest will always be traumatized and with their Mitsi and Chiptune (the sheep), the second oldest will always be a powerhouse (more than in canon), and the second youngest will always be an evil virus creature.

Age swap; the hollow heads were created in reverse order. Vic's closest friend in the color gang is Blue. They're the calm, levelheaded ones of the bunch who keep everyone's heads on straight. Chosen in this au isn't as powerful as canon, with him only having meteokinesis (storm powers) and fire breath, and enhancing himself with fire-based virabands (and thus is made of fire in s3 instead of vira-goo). Much like how Dark in canon loves bugs (specifically spiders) Chosen loves reptiles (specifically snakes) and has a wyvern aesthetic. Dark is a powerhouse, sporting many powers he had originally only gotten from the viraband, such as dark lasers and electricity, from creation. Orange is a traumatized little bean, and just like c!Vic his color was also stripped as he crashed into the Outernet. His Mitsi is, like in canon, based off his design, with hair the same color as him and the same pale dress. I felt like curly hair and a sweater would give off a whimsical and cozy vibe. I don't have a good answer for why Chiptune is a llama in this au (or why he's different in the others as well) but I think it makes the aus just a bit more unique and interesting.

Foil swap; each hollow head is swapped with their respective foil (Orange-Dark and Chosen-Victim). Alan and the color gang quickly learned to not leave Dark and Yellow alone for too long. You can take away all the redstone in their vicinity and they'll still find a way to blow something up. Orange loves sea life (specifically eels) and thus has an aquatic aesthetic. His virus harnesses and abuses the green life energy (which he was not created with a mastery over [this is a general headcanon of mine]) and he is made of its light post Showdown. (Side note, I love how Orange turned out here. He's such a maniac I love him). Vic is basically H4CK3R from the beginning in this au plus pyrokinesis (also his crosshair can fire lasers though I wouldn't be surprised if he can do that in canon already). Chosen needs a hug after being battered and broken by Alan. Fortunately Mitsi is here to show him what freedom feels like (hence her free-flowing hair). Also Chipy is a jacob sheep because I said so.

Villain swap; the villains and heroes in the hollow head group are swapped (Dark-Vic and Chosen-Orange)(yes ik Chosen isn't really a hero but it's the best I got). Red is the closest to Chosen in this au. There's never a dull moment in the PC when those two find something to do. Vic, or more accurately Hacker, uses owls as his virabots because they're the most practical and aesthetically pleasing according to him. His virus is made from the code left behind during the Newgrounds attack and he is very glitchy once it becomes a part of him. Orange is quite powerful (more than in canon) in this au, and it's a bit much for him. Dark (whose color was also stripped upon crashing into the Outernet), while still traumatized by Alan, recovered a lot faster with Mitsi's help (her design is mostly based on vibes. I can't tell you why I went with an a-line haircut or black leggings but it fits). And of course Chipy is the GOAT.

Just to clarify real quick the ones with traditional flags are straight, not gay.

Yellow, King, Ballista and Primal are all straight allies. Blue and Hazard are bigender, Blue uses both male pronouns and female titles while Haz is canonically a they (plural). Green, Red, and Vic are pan.

Purple is kinda trans, she was born female and presented as male most of her life but as she became comfortable with her friends and King she started presenting as female again. Idk if there's a flag for that specific situation (tbh there probably is) but the identity dysphoria she went through is similar (from what I've heard) to what many members of the trans community experience so she's under the trans umbrella.

Orchid and Agent are bi. Gold is ganderfluid, mostly because I can't decide if I want him to be male or female so she gets to be both. Orange and Chosen are aromantic. Vic, Agent and Mitsi are poly.

And finally Dark made his own special flag because he identifies as a threat.

Some other hc that are present; many winged sticks like to dye their wings for events such as pride parades. Spirits often have powers related to how they lived, in Orchid's case she can make flowers and is using their pigments to dye her and Gold's wings because Goldy saw Purple doing it and thought it would be fun. Chosen doesn't fully understand the point of pride month but is supportive of his little brother none the less. Dark also doesn't give a shit, all he cares about is chaos, he doesn't have time for relationships, but if he were to chill out and try to find someone (who isn't one of his brothers) he'd realize he's gay. Navy is also gay but is in total denial. The vast majority of animations are either bi or pan with tons of others also not conforming to a singular gender. Very few animations are created with a gender so many orient however they want. Born sticks usually lean one way or the other but even they tend to fluctuate throughout their lives, so long as their parents allow them to.

This definitely isn't happening in the show (at the very least not like this in her valkyrie form) but imagine. Imagine this fight with the lightning and speedy attacks and her goop-stained wings, all enhanced by the virus. Actually now that I think about it wouldn be cool if Dark gave the powerless members of his army some kind of vira-goo enhancement. Like Agent gets a new toolbar with a vira lasso, bowstaff, shield and whatever else makes him useful. That'd be sick

Seriously though it would be cool if Purple and King got camios in the next episode. Someone on Tumblr suggested that if and when the cg figure out how to free people from Dark's control that Purple would be the first, allowing for a perfectly contained reason for her to join the group without having to know the other series. Because why wouldn't you help the people who saved your life.

If I had a nickel for every fandom I'm in that has an evil spider god-thing who mind controls people as the main antagonist I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice. I guess spiders make good puppet masters.

(in case it isn't clear those are silk strands acting as puppet strings)

I did have a mini story planned for this but my dumb ass didn't write it down and so much has happened irl since that I forgot it and am too tired to rewrite. More or less it was an internal dialogue that led to Chosen letting himself be taken by the water.

So yeah Chosen dies at the end of his story in this au (likely not from drowning but this looks better for the prompt than Dark slicing him open or something. Depends on how important he is to the rest of the season though, I might end up killing him off earlier than canon). From there there's a few paths the aftermath story can go. The two I'm deciding on are either; 1, Alan redraws him. Total physical reset, his powers are back, his voice is back, he's not an avian anymore, he's genuinely happy about that, until he realizes he's pretty much stuck in the PC, because if he goes back to the Outernet he's just going to turn into an avian again. He can still live in Minecraft at least and the cg are there to help him adjust. Or, option 2, he gets reincarnated as a whole new stick. No painful memories, no trauma responses, just the carefree life he should have lived had he been uploaded like everyone else. A fresh start with a new identity. In this case he would still be friends with the cg through meeting Purple so they're not completely separated.

This might just be me but I think the reincarnation route is better. I get the whole healing takes time thing and 'trauma builds character' stuff but Chosen has been through enough already and he deserves to be happy as soon as possible. But if you have any objections or a better idea then feel free to share, I love reading what you guys think.

Also before I finish up I just want to say, I am not condoning suicide with this. If you feel like death is the only way out of your situation then please seek help and confide with someone. The only reason I'm doing this is because this is a fantastical world where perfect resurrection has been shown multiple times. In real life, there's always a better option. Please hang in there.

So first off, this

That's a mission statement, seemingly the same type that Alan gave to Dark. And Dark was able to resist his mission. That makes me wonder, if he can resist his then could the revived also? I think this might be how Vic gets freed, at least enough to tip the scales. I can see a scene where, Mitsi gets captured after a failed rescue/infiltrate plan or something and Dark orders Vic to kill her, but he resists and turns his blade on Dark and they start fighting. Now with the two powerhouses occupied the CG+mercs and Mitsi can rescue Orange and put a stop to this.

There is one thing that scares me though

Vic's powers have the vira deletion effect now. Does that mean anyone who was revived with the machine also can inflict deletion? Is this permanent? Or does a simple mission statement somehow cause this and thus will go away once they're freed? Frankly the latter doesn't seem likely to me, so unless Orange can heal them after everything is over they're all just going to be stuck with their virafied code.

Most likely Orange would try to heal them but what if he doesn't have the strength to do so, or physically can't remove the virus, assuming he would even want to help the people who tortured him in the first place (maybe Mitsi can convince him though since she did nothing wrong).

Then again the virus might just disappear automatically once Dark gets eviscerated into the shadow realm again (please Orange send this guy straight to Hell).

Or what if, because the revival was done artificially (as in Orange didn't willingly bring them back with the love in his heart) (on top of the vira thing), the code of those revived starts unraveling once the machine is destroyed. It would be a bittersweet ending for sure but I honestly don't think, even with Mitsi, that Vic has the strength to rebuild his life after everything that's happened. Rocket is completely destroyed, and Vic's only remaining friend would be with him and Mitsi in whatever the stickfigure afterlife is (I'd feel bad for the poor sheep though). Again, bittersweet but honestly not a bad ending to Vic's story.

Enjoy this beautiful moment when Purple gets her wings back and takes her first real flight (well technically second, the fight to the death doesn't count).

The next few prompts are going to be fluffy, assuming I can get to them. Not to get into detail but life happened and I might not find the time/motivation to draw, which sucks because I really want to finish this and am really looking forward to the last one I have planned. I don't know if I'll be able to relax or have any free time or if I'll even be able to celebrate my birthday tomorrow. I'll still try to get these pieces done though.

First up, the mercenaries.

Agent is a swan. Swans are incredibly loyal to their loved ones and are equally vicious. Regular swans are 30 pounds of pure muscle and their wings, while not quite strong enough to break bone, are very powerful still.

Hazard is a magpie. Magpies are very intelligent but also chaotic birds.

Primal is an archaeopteryx. Basically he's a dino bird. There isn't much information on these guys behaviorally but I thought it'd be cool to have cavestickmen be dinosaur birds.

Ballista isn't really a bird. He's basically a robot so he has robot wings. His hooked tail makes up for his lack of wings claws.

Secondly, the villagers.

Mitsi is a dove. Doves represent peace, love, and protection. Plus her sheep, Chiptune, who doesn't have wings but likes to wear little cutout wings.

Shepard is a golden eagle. Golden eagles are far more aggressive when hunting than other eagles, allowing them to take down prey much larger than them like wolves. Very convenient when you have a flock of sheep to protect.

Most other villagers would probably be in the columbidae family (the two gnome children are pigeons for example). Admittedly I didn't think about the entire village because they're mostly background characters. There's probably a chicken somewhere in there and Granny could be a barn swallow but other than that I leave them up to you guys.

Next up, miscellaneous.

Grey worker is a quelea. Queleas are small crafty birds that have flock sizes that can reach the billions.

Neon Yellow is a starling. Starlings are vocal birds with the ability to mimic most sounds they hear. They're also considered to be invasive pests that bring messages of change. Now this might be a bit controversial but if Navy and King are foils then why wouldn't Orchid and Neon also be foils? If Orchid was a good mom (albeit quiet and frail) could Neon have been a bad mom? Would explain why she's not in the story without having to kill another female character.

Corndog Guy is a city pigeon. City pigeons (or feral pigeons) are intelligent, opportunistic birds that live in urban environments. The real life bird can even do simple math and recognize different people.

Magenta/The Conductor is a cockatoo. Cockatoos are by far the most chaotic and hyperactive bird you can find and just based off what we've seen of Conductor I think it fits.

Eye/Node isn't a bird, they're a Hundun. Like Orange, Eye is a mythical winged creature, but unlike Orange, doesn't have the instincts of a real bird. Hunduns are many-winged, faceless entities that represent primordial chaos and cosmic disorder in Chinese mythology. We'll see how well this holds up as we learn more about them but for now I think this fits.

Finally we have miscellaneous hollow heads.

Right off the bat I'm going to acknowledge that most of them are ocs but I still wanted to show them, especially since one of them does fit directly into this au specifically (well, he can exist in other aus but he's guaranteed to exist in this one)

Freedom Guy is a bald eagle. Do I need to explain this one?

Killer and BEAST, although they don't exist as people in canon, are a seriema and jay respectively. Seriemas are agile hunters and the closest relative to "terror birds". They also prefer running to flying which I thought could be a neat nod to Killer being the only one of Alan's hollow heads to not have flight in their default power set. Jays are intelligent, adaptable corvids with the ability to mimic to a slight degree. As for Killer and BEAST themselves, they exist in any au (which for me is currently 1) where Alan decides it's a good idea to spawn more stickfigures before Chosen (who has golden eyes). Killer has the ability to summon any weapon he needs as well as laser vision, while BEAST is a shapeshifter with fire breath.

Last but not least, The Storm Bringer, or Stormy, is a white raven. White ravens symbolize transformation, healing, and mark the transition from old to new. Stormy is the aforementioned oc that is important to this au. I don't want to say too much about him just in case I do end up writing his story, but I will say he's the light at the end of the tunnel for the one person in this au who needs it the most.