#countdown au

Something’s weird on Keelhaul Key (speed paint under cut)

anywayss, vows is shotwed, obituary is quiet, and rose/alibi is ashle in da countdown au okay? okays. anyways;

rose, upon escaping, struggled with the Spawn Technology. they didn't know what they were supposed to do— and with how badly his mental health dropped due to, y'know, the trials— it's not a surprise that they were basically unable to even live normally. to the point that both vows n' obituary had to step in to help him

rose.. vaguely knew of them. they were a constant, comforting presences that he desperately held onto during their time trapped. when they don't remember what happened when he was dragged out for testing, he knew one or the other took the blow for them. he.. he feels guilty, in a way, for them existing. existing to protect them, despite them having their own thoughts and feelings. feeling guilty that this is what they're born into

the three never had the chance to properly talk to one another openly without the fear of being caught— so the two basically jumped for the opportunity the moment they're free.

alibi... couldn't. he couldn't. they couldn't bear the thought of taking a part of someone's lifespan— that he's taking away time from someone. permanently. it was nauseating, horrifying. all to drag out their existence that shouldn't exist. but yet, they were terrified of what would've happened if they didn't add more time to the clock.

vows knew it had to be done. obituary knew it was for their own good. so, to the best of their abilities, they tried to comfort alibi. suggestions. taking only a year, maybe only a few months or days— maybe only a few hours. it was small, but it was a start.

.. taking hours wasn't enough. a month wasn't enough. they realized too late that only years would work before the clock hit midnight and their body screamed in agory.

vows doesn't remember exactly when she took over and drained someone till only a year was left for them, but when he came to, they realized that rose wasn't answering.

alibi was gone.

and there was nothing that told them they could or would come back.

alibi isn't dead, just inactive. they were basically retreated into the furthest part of their mind in an attempt to protect themselves. if he ever comes back, it'll just be as though he simply took a nap. they wouldn't know how much as changed, or how long it truly had been. this is not a conscious decision. they thought they were taken back there, so their mind protected them in the only way it knew how.

the two were devastated at their disappearance. they thought they had died, that the technology somehow took him with it, as a consequence for not feeding it.

they're... vows and obituary aren't as close as they once were. they care for eachother still, there wasn't a world where they would ever stop doing so. unfortunately, neither would be communicating as much as they were before. at some point, vows had thought obituary had disappeared, too. they hadn't, and they promised they never will.

obituary acts sorta like the cleanup, more distant but to the point. they pick up the pieces left behind and tie any loose ends whenever they could. they don't talk— which is funny, because they were quite chatty before. and will ignore oaths, mistaking him as another hallucination.

obituary doesn't trust much other then vows. he doesn't like the connections vows hold— not out of malice, but of caution. they see them as a danger to their safety. yet they try and hold them anyhow, if only for vows. and for alibi, too, but they'll never admit that out loud.

i need someone to hold me at gunpoint to start working on da part 2 of my dylan fic. aka get me to finally write cubed. i miss himm

IDK IT'S BEEN AWHILE TRAPPER'S SORRY (⁠*⁠﹏⁠*⁠;⁠)

Also what would he look like now? And what's happened with the other entities? Are some of them also dead or are they fine?

imma guess you're talkin about the countdown au— which i should clarify what i meant lmao ajxgajsud sorry!!

no, Trapper wasn't given Spawn Technology in this AU because he was meant to be bait/disposable. something something said Technology was discarded/abandoned midway through and no one trusts it due to. y'know. how it turned out. gestures at Vows.

Countdown AU's Spawn Technology needs charging. and to charge it they need to take someone's Time/part of their lifespan to recharge it. people don't usually die by this, although it IS possible if they decided to take ALL of that person's Time. (this usually isn't by choice, and often isn't. Vows panicked.)

Vows(this AU's Ashle/Shotwed) took the entirety of Trapper's Time when he realized Traps was out to get him. and since he did so, Traps now sorta haunt him due to them practically yoinking their soul in the process. like, you just took their entire life energy. it's gonna cause issues.

i am honestly still figuring out how i wanna imagine Trapper in this AU. just. ghostly. and very psychologically damaging.