its basically supposed to be like. dreamcore but like not as creepy as it usually is. at first at least. bunch of angels too LMAO

the au begins in vol 333 after thatcher makes it to the police station from the murray's. as he hears "amazing grace" get closer to his office, he turns behind him and sees a door in the wall where it shouldnt be. he decides to check it out.

the scene he's greeted with is beautiful. pink, orange, and yellow clouds filling a sky of the same color, blending with dark blues and purples like a beautiful sunset. he is greeted by ruth, who now has three halos above her head and a glorious pair of wings, fading from white to yellow. she welcomes thatcher and makes him notice his own wings. sure they're small which means he can't fly, but he's always had those.

right?

he ignores that because ruth quickly takes him into her arms and flies him across this dreamlike scenery. they eventually appear at a familiar house: the heathcliff residence. contrasting to its once disturbing, melancholy vibe, it is colored in a beautiful baby blue and looks brand spanking new almost! a family can be seen hanging out just near the front porch, one being a very familiar mark heathcliff. his wings are slightly smaller than ruth's and he has a small ring for a halo of his own! his wings fade from a light blue to a darker blue but not like. dark blue DFVGBHNJM. mark greets the pair and he thanks thatcher for "saving him" from the alternate outside his door.

thatcher immediately knew something was wrong just from that statement alone. he took the thanks anyway and just ignored it for the time being. he also did see sarah still playing in the cloudy grass of the front lawn, her wings yet to grow and her halo yet to form.

cesar had just come by to visit as well!!! his wings faded from a bright orange to a scarlet red, and he had a halo surrounding his neck and one around the back of his head. he also thanks thatcher and ruth for "saving him and his mother back at the house". thatcher once again takes this as a red flag and decides he'll ask ruth about it later.

ruth and thatcher soon leave to let the family relax more, thatcher asking ruth about the heathcliffs in particular. ruth completely ignores him and drops him into a fast-moving cloud, almost like a river. the scene turns more blue but it was still somehow peaceful. he ends up at another familiar residence: the murrays.

he sees lynn and jude- having their own pairs of wings and joint halos, acting as two rings connecting to each other to symbolize marriage- enjoying a romantic moment, seemingly not even divorced as jonah suddenly third wheels the couple. they all greet thatcher and also thank him for "saving them during a great time of need". the thing was, he got there after lynn had died, so how is she alive? he ignored his own questions for the time being as he saw adam come up from behind them and roughhousing jonah for a small amount of time.

he looks different.

he has a halo as well as small devil horns poking out from his messy blonde hair. his wings face from white to pure black. he had a tail that wagged behind him, and his eyes just look so wrong too… jonah was just a regular human too- no halos, no wings, no nothing. it just seemed so odd…

ruth had finally joined thatcher and said their goodbyes to the murrays and jonah before going to this world's version of the police station. ruth begins to cough harshly, and thatcher notices she's coughing up blood. her eyes begin to gloss over, and her features are beginning to decay. her neck seems to have markings on it too. he of course is panicking and asking her what the hell is going on.

she ends up telling thatcher that she's dead, and she wanted to be able to stop the fate that awaited thatcher in the tunnels below mandela county. she thought she'd be able to keep thatcher safe, have him live in a world where she was still there for him, where everyone could be happy.

she says her goodbyes and fades in thatcher's arms as he screams for her to come back, knowing she never will…

...

thatcher wakes up in the station, his head slumped on his desk. the music had been gone for some time now, but he quickly decided to see what awaited him down in the tunnels since ruth mentioned them.

you know what happens from there

...

i am kinda thinking that right before thatcher wakes up in catalyst, he somehow ends up back there but in dream form. everything's distorted, everyone's talking really weirdly, and even the ending is different. he seems himself with wings bigger than he could have imagined.

and he knew exactly who it was.

but before he could see his own face, he wakes up to bitch ass gabe going "YO WAKEY WAKEY ITS TIME FOR SCHOO"

he probably has also somewhat zoned out back to that place a few times too, but he could never stay for long. everything's blurry and fuzzy, sounds are muffled, and it all just feels wrong. it's better than looking at that thing in his closet though.

watching.

knowing what it did to ruth.

ok thats all the iscord rambles. i am also going to add dave as foreshadowing in his revisit to the weird world in the dream before catalyst bc heehoo funny angst :)c

i also have some concept art for this au!!!